Sydney
by girlinpink44
Summary: A blast from Shawn's past is about to turn his world upside down and change his life forever.
1. What Came Before

2006- Santa Barbara

"Look, I've called in dozens of tips. Okay? Just check it out." Shawn couldn't believe the predicament he'd gotten himself into this time. Actually, he could believe it.

"I did. I checked out a whole lot of stuff. Like…Oh! You're currently unemployed. Never held a job for more than six months. And, you have a criminal record."

"I was eighteen."

"Eighteen? Oh, well that makes it okay. Let me just scratch this out." The detective's face was full of sarcasm.

"I borrowed a car-"

"You stole a car."

"-to impress a girl. " Shawn finished his sentence.

"Look, forgive us Mr. Spencer if this seems farfetched." At least his partner was being somewhat reasonable.

" Would it help at all if I told you that she had a bit of a reputation and that I was "O" for… high school? …Okay, fine. There were extenuating circumstances. The arresting officer was my father. He was trying to teach me a lesson."

"Did ya learn it?" The detective learned in waiting for his answer.

* * *

Present Day- Outside Santa Barbara

The sign said five miles to Santa Barbara and with each passing minute, the girl behind the wheel seemed to grow paler. This was the right decision, really her only choice at this moment. She just needed... if she was honest she didn't know what she needed any more.

Her phone rang and she groaned when she saw who was calling. "Are you sure I can't talk you out of this?" The familiar voice got right to the point.

"Positive, I need to do this."

A sigh came from the other side. "Fine, I wish you would reconsider."

"And I wish my mother was alive but we don't always get what we wish for."

After a moment of awkward silence the person on the other line finally answered. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Me too. This is something I have to do. Something I've dreamed of doing. Plus, it's my turn to be normal. Figure out who I am."

"You're too special to be normal but if I can't convince you to change your mind, good luck."

"Thank you." She smiled knowing she had won this battle.

"Oh and nice hair."

The girl looked into the rearview mirror and saw the recently dyed strand of hot pink hair. "Thanks, I decided it was time for something different."

"I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess so."

"Take care of yourself."

"You too." The girl hung up the phone and exited the freeway lowering the top of her convertible and breathing in the salt air. She could get used to this. She quickly glanced at the piece of paper with her hotel reservation. Tomorrow, she had an important meeting.

* * *

Present Day: California State Correctional Facility

The lights flickered in cellblock C, singling that it was almost time for lights off. The guards, preparing for a shift change were doing one last walkthrough before finally being able to clock out.

"Seems like every time we turn around, they add another one to this cell block."

"Yeah, this bunch comes from Santa Barbara." One of the guards on duty topped off his cup of coffee.

"Well whatever they are doing down in Santa Barbara they need to keep it up."

"I'll drink to that!" He raised his glass and the other guard followed suit. For another few minutes all was quiet.

The lights in the block went out and all seemed quiet. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to call it a night."

"I'll drink to that." They raised their cups.

"Too bad this is just coffee."

The other guard laughed. "Too bad."

All of a sudden, a siren went off followed by flashing lights. Both guards turned to the screens just in time to feel something hard on the back of their heads.


	2. Black Friday

"You want the guy there, on the left." Shawn pointed out one of the people occupying the holding cell. Nothing like a good Black Friday fight to fill up the holding cells. Currently all were filled.

"Are you sure?" Jules

"The spirits are a buzz Jules. That's your guy. But for what it's worth it was an accident."

"What are you talking about?"

Shawn smiled, in his element and loving every minute of it. "I'm sensing that the man was pushed in the early morning rush running into the gentlemen on the right. Said gentlemen went off and that led to your fight."

"How can you tell all that?"

Shawn looked up to the ceiling. "I'm am but a messenger."

Jules shook her head and started to fill out the paperwork. "Alright, one down a few more to go."

And that was how Shawn spent his Black Friday. While the rest of the world searched for some great bargain he was racking in the dough. Ever since he helped with a mall fight a few years ago, he was called in anytime something like this happened. It was easy money.

Coming back into the bullpen, Shawn saw Chief Vick step out of her office. "Thank you for your help today Mr. Spencer."

"It was nothing. its not Black Friday without a few fights."

"Everything is sorted out?"

Jules nodded. "Shawn sorted through all six major fights and a couple smaller ones."

"I have to say, I'm impressed. Job well done. There is a briefing in twenty minutes I want you here for Mr. Spencer so don't go far."

"I'll be here chief." Shawn barely got it out before the door to her office closed.

"Shawn!" He turned to see Gus entering the station.

"Took you long enough buddy!" Shawn took the smoothie he held out.

"I was trying to finish my route!"

"You're still doing that?"

Gus gave him that look, the one that was usually reserved for six year olds. "Yes, one of us has to be responsible."

"Better you than me." Shawn rolled his eyes as he spotted Lassie talking to a girl in the conference room. Something about the girl looked familiar, but at the same time, Shawn was sure he'd never seen her before.

He'd figure that out later, but why was she talking to Lassie? There were only but so many reasons one would come to the station, but she didn't show the signs of any of the usual reasons.

"What are you looking at?" Jules interrupted his thoughts.

"Lassie, who is he talking to?"

"Not sure, I don't recognize her. But I'm sure whatever it is he doesn't need you or your gift." She put air quotes around gift. Telling her the whole psychic thing was a hoax had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do, and sure for a while mad was an understatement for her mood, but their relationship had only grown stronger because of it.

"Make sure Lassiter knows about the briefing." Chief Vick rushed by with papers in her hand.

Shawn watched her dart into her office and turned to Gus and saw the same questioning look. Something big was up. But Shawn had twenty minutes to kill.

So he opened the door to the conference room and rushed inside. "Lassieface! I hear this young lady may be in need of our services."

As Lassie turned, so did the girl and Shawn stopped cold. Seeing her face, he now knew why she looked familiar. Her face was like a ghost from his past. But he had to find out for sure. "I'm sensing you're related to Rebecca Collins."

The girl smiled a smile he knew all too well. "She was my mother."

"Was?" Gus entered the room. Shawn turned and knew Gus saw the resemblance too.

"She passed away a few months ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Shawn heard Gus' response but it was like he was in a tunnel. Becca was dead? And she had a daughter, a daughter that may be…

"How old are you?"

"I just turned 18 last week."

Shawn mentally did the math and his heart stopped. "And were you on time?"

"No, I was a month early." She had a look in her eyes, her eyes. Shawn knew those eyes, knew them too well. Knew her dark brown hair too well, well minus the hot pink strand near her face. It wasn't possible was it?

"Spencer!" Shawn heard Lassie and then felt someone steady him into a chair.

He felt someone place a cup in his hand. He looked up and saw Gus looking at him, worry filling his eyes. Shawn put on a fake smile and turned to the girl. "What's your name?"

A past conversation floated through his mind as she answered. "Sydney Collins."

"Why Sydney?" Shawn had a feeling he knew the answer to the question.

"Because it's a place my father wanted to visit someday. He always thought it was such a nice place."

Shawn stared at her for a minute the rest of the world fading out. "Have you ever met your father?"

"Today's the first time." She whispered.

Shawn looked around and everyone was staring at him. Saving her for last, Shawn turned to Jules. "Shawn, who is she?"

Shawn turned to Sydney, not ignoring Jules' question, just not ready to answer it. "Do you know who I am?"

She nodded a lot of emotions flashing across her hazel eyes. Shawn studied her and resisted the urge to laugh out loud when she did the head tilt that Gus liked to call him out on and looked around the room. Behind him, he heard a gasp and knew Gus had seen it too. Finally, she answered him. "Do you know who I am?"

Shawn nodded and then turned back to Jules. "Back when I was in high school after Abigail, there was a girl."

"Becca." Gus chimed in.

"Becca Collins, she was something. Had a reputation for being… being a little rebellious. Which at that time, is just what I wanted. I spent months trying to get her to let me take her out. I haven't worked that hard to win a girl over since, well until Jules here."

Jules blushed at that comment and came over to stand beside him. She was about to say something when Lassie interrupted. "Rebecca Collins why does that name sound familiar?"

Shawn sighed. "She was arrested alongside with me that night. Remember? The one you just had to point out the first time we really talked."

Shawn watched as Lassie shuffled through memories and saw the recognition as he arrived at the right one. "Oh yes, the night you were arrested."

"Yes, after that we didn't really talk and right after graduation she packed up and went to live with some relatives near DC. I never saw or heard from her again."

"So Sydney is her daughter, this Becca." Jules was trying to put the pieces together but wasn't quite arriving.

"Yes, turns out we did more that night than I thought." Shawn finally admitted out loud what he had been thinking the whole time. "What brings you to Santa Barbara?"

Sydney smiled, and Shawn couldn't help but smile as well. She had his smile and his eyes. And at least some of his "gifts", he'd have to investigate that more later. "I came looking for you, for the place where Mom grew up, for a fresh start. I left behind some things in DC, and I needed a change."

"What kind of things?"

Shawn watched Sydney hesitate, watched her calculate how to answer the question. "Someday I may be ready to share that, for now, let's just say that part of my life is over."

As much as he wanted to find out more about that, something told him now was not the time. But he had plenty of other questions, that was for sure. But they weren't going to get answered because Chief Vick stuck her head in. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need all of you out here now."

Lassie and Jules stood up and headed for the bullpen. Gus started to follow them out, but then hesitated. Shawn waved him out. "I'll be right there buddy."

He turned to Sydney. "I swear I had no idea."

She nodded. "I know, Mom wrote a letter and after her funeral her lawyer gave it to me. That's how I found you."

"We have a lot to talk about don't we?"

A smile filled her face. "We do, but go. I want to see what my dad does for a living."

Shawn made sure she could see through the blinds. "I'm going to leave the door cracked. Let me know if you pick up on anything."

He turned and headed out, trying to clear his head so that he could focus on the case.

* * *

"Thank you for joining us Mr. Spencer." Chief Vick had the look on her face. But Shawn was used to it.

"What do we have today?" Shawn sat on Jules' desk picking up the paper she left there for him to doodle on.

"Last night, four convicts escaped from a high security wing."

She clicked the slide and a video played. One second a guard was walking through a hallway, the next the lights went out. For a second, the lights flashed on and four people filled the screen before it went dark. When they came back on, the guard was on the floor.

"Who are the convicts?"

Chief Vick cleared her throat. "Allison Crowly, Charles Wignall, Lily Jenkins, and ex detective Drimmer."

"These are all from cases we've worked on." Gus pointed out the obvious.

"Yes, all four are from former cases. The connection we have is that…"

"That Shawn worked the case." Jules finished his sentences. "That we all worked the case."

Out of the corner of his eye, Shawn saw Sydney trying to get his attention. He nodded and slowly made his way over to the door. "You got something?"

"The blonde girl had a cell phone."

"What do you mean?"

"The blonde one had a phone. There was a phone bump in her pants pocket. Like this." Sydney pointed to her jeans and sure enough there was a bulge and she pulled out her phone.

"We find out how she got the phone, get the number, trace it, and then find out how they escaped." Shawn did a happy dance and without thinking, gave her a hug. He felt her awkwardly return it. "I've got to get back in there."

"These three are to be considered highly dangerous and need to be brought back into custody as soon as possible. Keep in mind that we have a very small window of time before these guys may be gone forever." Chief Vick hadn't missed a beat and luckily hadn't noticed he had slipped out.

"Or a small window of time before they come after someone." Gus muttered.

"I'm sensing there was a phone." Shawn winked at Sydney.

"What do you mean?" Jules asked.

"Her jeans, there's a bulge, I'm sensing there was a phone."

"Well, that is a lead." Chief Vick nodded to a couple officers who jotted it down. "For now, we'll work off that and see what else turns up. Alright, let's get them back where they belong." With that she turned and headed back into her office.

Shawn turned to Gus. "Well, there may be another psychic detective in town."

Gus looked into the conference room. "Seriously?"

Shawn shrugged, and smiled, surprised at how proud he felt. "Yeah, she's my daughter alright."

* * *

While they were waiting on news about the phone, Shawn decided to get to spend time with Sydney. They had visited the Psych office, taken a tour of the churro, smoothie, and peanut carts of Santa Barbara, and finally had an important stop to make.

Gus pulled up to the curb and Shawn checked behind him to make sure Sydney hadn't gotten lost. But she was pulling in right behind him.

"Are you sure you're ready to do this?" Gus asked as he got out.

"I don't know if I'll ever be ready, but I want him to hear it from me." Shawn opened the gate and waved Sydney through. "You ready for this?"

"Not really. You?" She looked as nervous as Shawn felt.

"Not at all, but we can do this." Shawn told himself that a few times hoping it would sink in. Taking a deep breath, he unlocked the front door and stepped inside. "Papa Bear! You up?"

"Shawn? What are you doing here?" Henry walked into the living room. Shawn watched as he saw Sydney and several emotions crossed his face. "Who's the girl?"

"I'm sensing that you know the answer to that question."

"Don't pretend to be psychic to me."

"Yeah, how did that happen?" Sydney turned to him.

"Long story." Gus muttered.

"Who's her mother?"

"Becca."

Henry's eyes grew wide. "Shawn, please tell me you didn't do it in the back of a stolen car."

"If it will make you feel better…" Shawn knew he had a sheepish grin on his face.

"I'm Sydney and for the record, I don't want to cause tension between the two of you. It seems likes you've had enough of it over the years and are just getting back to good terms." Sydney walked over and held out her hand. Shawn felt his jaw drop at her observation.

"All that from one conversation." Henry shook his head.

"Crazy, isn't it."

"When did you find out about her?" Henry asked.

"This morning, can she stay here for a few days?"

"Of course! I won't have my granddaughter staying in some hotel."

Shawn sighed with relief. "And Dad?"

"Yeah son?"

"With the whole jailbreak thing, be careful."

Henry walked up to Shawn and put his hand on his shoulder. "I will." He turned to Sydney. "You have some bags in the car?

"Yeah, mine is behind the… the blueberry?" Sydney turned the Shawn.

"You got it right." Shawn stepped outside and heard his dad whistle as he saw Sydney's car. Sitting behind the Blueberry was a white convertible.

"Yeah, I've got a couple of bags. Not a lot." Sydney opened the trunk. "Oh, and how are you about pets?"

Shawn turned to see his Dad take a step back. "What do you have?"

Sydney opened the door of the second seat and pulled out a cage revealing a grey speckled rabbit. "This is Chipper."

Shawn felt his jaw drop as the rabbit twitched his nose. How cute! "Gus! It's a bunny."

"You know that's right." Gus was instantly by Sydney's side scratching Chipper's head.

Behind him, he heard a chuckle. "I think we can handle that."

Sydney's face lit up at that answer and Shawn was surprised at the almost warm fuzzy feeling he felt at the sight of her smile. If he was honest with himself he was terrified. He wasn't ready to be a father. He didn't know the first thing about being a father. But somehow, she was working her way into his heart.

"Shawn?" Sydney snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What's up?"

"Thanks." She shut her trunk, a bag sitting beside it.

Shawn picked it up and she grabbed Chipper's cage. "For what?"

"For giving me a chance, for an awesome day. At least not since Mom died." Shawn watched as something crossed her face but she quickly hid it.

"Even with the test?" Lassie had suggested that Shawn get a paternity test done. Shawn knew that Sydney was his but if it made everyone happy…

"Even that, you've got some good friends here. They're just looking out for you." She walked into the house with Shawn close behind.

"I guess so." He followed her upstairs taking her stuff into the guest room. Henry followed with fresh sheets.

"Let me help you make this up." He sat the sheets on the bed.

"Sure, let me get Chipper settled." Sydney went and sat the cage down on the dresser. "I bet you are glad to get out of the car, aren't you?"

Shawn came over and grabbed the sheet and helped his dad start making the bed. "You ok kid?"

"Peachy dad." He sighed as he looked up and saw his dad studying him. Sydney had stepped out of the room. "What do you want me to say? I'm terrified. I don't know a thing about being a father. She's 18 and I just met her. I missed her first words, her first steps, her first day of kindergarten, her first peewee soccer game, her high school prom, graduation, everything."

Henry sighed. "How about focusing on the moments to come not the ones you can't get back."

Why did his dad always seem to be right? Shawn sighed and finished putting on the fitted sheet. "You're right."

"Here's some water, Chipper." Sydney walked back in and stuck the bowl in the cage. "Isn't that better?"

"How long have you had Chipper?" Shawn had to smile as she babied the rabbit.

"He was a present on my sixteenth birthday so a little over two years." Sydney shut the door of the cage and turned. "You guys didn't have to do that."

"It wasn't a problem." Henry unfolded the comforter and laid it over the bed.

"Shawn, we need to get going. I've got to get up early for a meeting." Shawn turned to see Gus in the doorway. In all the craziness, he'd forgotten Gus was there.

"Go home son, get some rest. We'll figure out everything tomorrow." Henry came over and gave Shawn a hug.

If he let himself admit it, he was exhausted. He hadn't had this long of a day in a long time. "Alright, I'll be back tomorrow. Let's get going, Gus." He turned to Sydney. "Night Syd."

"Night Shawn." Shawn watched several things cross her mind before she finally held out her fist for a fist bump. Shawn smiled and returned it.

He followed Gus out of the house and into the Blueberry. Gus pulled away and for a minute, they rode in silence. Finally, Shawn heard Gus shift. "You ok?"

"I mean, I just found out I'm father, that for eighteen years I've had a daughter I've known nothing about."

"And 4 bad guys with a serious need for revenge just broke out of prison."

"That too." Shawn was going to have to get cracking on that case. What did they want? More importantly, who did they want?

The rest of the ride passed quickly and soon Gus pulled up to Shawn's place. The lights were on which meant Jules was home. Shawn felt a smile grow on his face. Maybe he could find a little energy…


	3. Deck the Halls

Shawn got up early, at least early for his standards, the next morning. As he woke up, the events of the night before came rushing back to him causing him to sit straight up and gasp. Next to him, Jules stirred before turning to him. "What's wrong Shawn?"

"Last night wasn't a dream. I have a…. a… and that means I'm a … I'm a…."

Jules sat up and started to rub his back. Shawn calmed his breathing trying to relax. It was ok, he would get through this, and he always got through things. It wasn't like he was alone.

"It's going to be ok. She seems awesome, a lot like you actually."

Shawn leaned in to give her a much earned kiss. "Well, some of my awesomeness had to be inherited. But it's hard to believe she's my…"

"She's yours, and you know what?" Jules leaned in for some very close talking.

"What?"

"I better not catch you beating yourself up over not knowing. There's no way you could have known."

"But, with you and Frank." That caused Jules to lean back a bit.

"Frank, knew I existed. You, had no idea." Jules' stern face broke into a smile. "Trust me, relax, get to know her." She got up and Shawn heard the bathroom door shut.

Shawn smiled running his hands through his hair before heading downstairs to the kitchen to start the coffee. He had to admit it was nice to be living in an actual home again. Sure, he had enjoyed the Color Me Mine, the dry cleaners, the pizza kitchen, and even the Psych office, but he truly felt at home here. Though maybe that had something to do with the blonde detective he could hear in the shower upstairs.

Coffee started, Shawn started breakfast for the two of them. He was almost done when Jules came down the stairs, fidgeting with her hair. "You look fine, gorgeous as always."

Shawn leaned in and they exchanged a quick kiss. Jules leaned away and laughed, shaking her head. "You have morning breath, go take care of that."

With a grin, he quickly ate his breakfast before heading upstairs. A half hour later, he was back downstairs and saw a note on the table.

_Headed to the station to knock out some paperwork. Remember what I said!_

Shawn went to the Psych office, hoping to have some time to clear his head. He had music playing and was switching between the case and looking up Sydney. She seemed pretty legit, graduated high school with honors, black belt in judo (mental note: don't mess with her), and volunteered a lot. He'd even found a picture of her with former President Bartlett.

As for the case, they hadn't found the phone trail yet, but Shawn was hacking into the prison system. Of course he was using Gus' computer to do it, but hopefully he'd have something soon.

Finally he got in and nothing showed how she could have gotten the phone. The store prisoners could order from didn't have phones, and they weren't allowed to bring them in. In fact, all four phones were still checked in with their other personal effects. He printed some results, logged out of the system, and headed back to his desk.

He picked up his phone and dialed. "Lassiter."

"Lassie, there's an inside man. I'm sensing he gave Cowley the phone."

"He's in the interrogation room now." Atta boy Lassie, way to be ahead of the game.

"There's our link to the phone."

Lassie grunted. "I'll look into it."

He hung the phone up and went to work, pulling up the files from the cases. Maybe Gus' idea of putting them into the computer was a good idea. Nothing jumped out at him, nothing that said this is what they have planned.

"This looks more like a guys dorm than an office." Shawn looked up from the files to see Sydney taking in the room.

"And how do you know what a guys dorm looks like?" He felt his eyebrow go up.

"Wasn't born yesterday." She came in, sat down on the couch and sighed.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, just a weird day."

"How so?" He wheeled his chair over and sat across from her.

She sighed. "Just missing my mom today. A little more than usual."

Shawn sighed and leaned forward. "Why more so today?"

"We always put up our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving."

"There's one in the closet waiting to go up, if you want to."

She looked thoughtful for a second and then her face lit up. "Really?"

"Sure, we need to deck the halls with boughs of jolly."

"Holly."

"I've heard it both ways." He got up and put his chair back behind his desk. "Come on, let's get this party started."

The rest of the morning passed quickly and when Gus showed up at lunchtime the office was fully decorated and they were mid monopoly game.

"Having fun?"

"Oh yeah." Sydney looked up and smiled.

"She's a tycoon or something!"

Gus walked over and looked over Shawn's shoulder. "Man, she's beating you bad."

"Is it lunchtime?"

"I think so."

"I think you're losing and this is a way out." Sydney jumped up. "But I'm starving so let's go. What are we getting?"

Shawn laughed. "What are we getting Gus?"

Empty plates sat on the table and they were about to get up when Shawn's phone rang. He saw that it was Jules. "Hey Jules!"

"Hey Shawn, where are you?"

"At El Pollo Loco."

"I stopped by the Psych office, who was getting their butt kicked in monopoly?"

"That would be me, Syd's a tycoon."

He heard a laugh. "Can you come by the station? We're getting nowhere with this guy and the chief wants you to take a crack at it."

"We'll be right there."

"How's Sydney?"

Shawn looked up to see Sydney at the register, paying the bill with Gus. They were in a discussion; both were talking a mile a minute. "She's something else. She's a neat freak."

"How did that happen?"

"Must have been her mother. And you know, there's something else."

"What?"

"She's hiding something, like we were talking and we'd get on a subject and she'd start talking and boy is she smart. But then she'd act like she shouldn't know that much."

"You mean like a genius hiding behind childlike behavior and 80s references."

Shawn had to admit, she had a point. "Yeah, exactly like that."

Sydney came up while Gus stood by the door. "Ready to go?"

He took a last sip of pineapple juice and nodded. "Yeah, we need to stop by the station."

"Ok!" Sydney led the way out of the restaurant.


	4. West of the Mississippi

Juliet watched the door of the SBPD and got up when Shawn walked in. "Shawn, they're waiting for you downstairs. I'll take care of Sydney."

Shawn nodded, looked back at Sydney before he headed downstairs, followed by Gus. Jules turned to see Sydney taking in the scene. For a second, Juliet didn't say anything, just watched as she had a look on her face that she had seen cross Shawn's more times than she could count the last 8 years.

For a second, she had been hurt when she found out. But then, she realized Shawn really didn't know. The idea that Shawn had a daughter, a fully-grown one at that didn't change how she felt about him. And then when he had just looked back, somehow Sydney was working her way into Shawn's heart and fast.

"Detective Ohara?"

Juliet snapped out of her thoughts and found Sydney watching her. "You can call me Juliet."

Sydney smiled, she really did have Shawn's smile, and nodded. "Ok, what now?"

Juliet handed her a clipboard with some forms on it. "You come over and sit with me and fill these out."

"Sounds simple enough." Sydney sat down and started filling out the forms.

Juliet went back to work, filling out reports. The station seemed to be business as usual, and for a few minutes she could forget that she was sitting next to Shawn's daughter and that Yin's apprentice could be lurking in the outside bushes. That thought cause her to shudder.

"What's wrong?"

Juliet looked up from her file to see Sydney watching her. "Nothing, I'm fine."

"Worried about Allison?"

Juliet felt her jaw drop; times like these she saw how Shawn was able to pull off the psychic act. "It's just with her and Yin and…"

"Shawn's not going to let her get anywhere near you." Sydney went back to her paperwork. Juliet decided to follow her example and for a while it was quiet again.

"What do I do with this?" Jules looked up to see Sydney holding up the clipboard.

"Done already?"

"Do you know how many times you have to fill out forms like these in DC? If the President is going to look at the building you have to fill out these."

Juliet laughed. "Take it back to the front desk and tell them I sent you."

Sydney nodded and disappeared down the hall. Juliet went back to work but heard the rustling of people getting out of the way and knew Carlton was headed her way.

"I don't understand it! I spend all morning questioning the guy, Spencer walks in and ten minutes later they are chatting like teenaged girls in the lunchroom." He stormed off towards his desk.

Unfortunately, Sydney rounded the corner and the collided with him. Juliet got up and rushed down the hall just as Carlton got up. He looked down and held out his hand. Sydney took it and he helped her up.

"Are you ok Miss Collins?"

"Call me Sydney, sir. And I'm fine, if that's the worst fall I take I'm doing good."

Juliet joined them. "Are you two ok?"

"I'm fine Juliet, I should have been watching where I was going." Sydney bent down and picked up her visitor badge, clipping it onto her jeans, just like her dad.

Carlton must have noticed it too. " Your father is sure to be wrapping up an interrogation that I've been failing at all day."

"He has a knack for that."

"You've known him for all of 20 hours."

"He gives off that vibe." She shrugged.

"So wait, you're psychic too?" Juliet saw Carlton's eyebrow go up.

Sydney turned to Juliet, who knew she couldn't help her there. This was Sydney's call. She heard her take a deep breath.

"I've always had this knack for seeing things others couldn't, wasn't sure what to call it. Then I read the letter from my mom, googled Shawn, and found out what he did. Made sense, a sixth sense."

Juliet couldn't help but smile at the answer, Sydney didn't claim to be psychic but didn't deny it either. It was a diplomatic answer, almost out of place but it fit her.

Carlton nodded. "So you're from DC?"

"Well, Vienna. It's not even a half hour out."

"Grew up in all the politics I guess."

"Mom worked in a military hospital, trust me I know a few things."

Juliet watched as Carlton's face lit up, it wasn't often he got to talk to someone that paid as much to politics as he did. Plus a taste of DC was something he loved, hence he almost fell apart every time a federal agent walked through the door.

Lassiter headed over to his desk and Sydney went over a knowing grin on her face. "Go ahead."

"Go ahead and what?"

"Ask the question everyone this side of the Mississippi seems to ask."

"Did you ever meet the president?"

"Which one?"

Lassiter's jaw dropped. "You've meant several?"

"Bartlett, Santos, and Lyman."

"Three?" Jules felt her jaw drop.

Sydney shrugged but as she went to saw something, Carlton's radio crackled. "We've got a 211 and a 187 at the coffee shop on Las Palmos. Back-up requested."

Carlton picked up the radio. "This is Detective Lassiter, eta is 10 minutes over."

"Copy that Detective."

"Get Spencer and meet me there." He threw on his suit jacket and grabbed his keys.

"Are you sure you want to go in alone." Juliet threw him a look of concern.

"Junior Psychic, ready to get initiated?" He headed for the door.

"Copy that." Sydney smiled at Jules and took off after him. She hoped this wasn't a mistake. But the rapid-fire conversation that was in full swing before they hit the door eased her worries.

Juliet grabbed her keys and headed down to the interrogation room, not wanting to waste anytime.

Shawn made his way up the stairs, running into to Jules who had keys in her hand.

"Shawn! What have I told you about leaving me downstairs with suspects?" Gus came up from the interrogation room.

"Oh come on, he just supplied a phone and turned off some lights. It's not like he killed anyone." He rolled his eyes as he turned back to Jules. "Hey, where's Syd?"

"A robbery, homicide got called in and she went ahead with Lassiter. He wants you to come with me."

Shawn laughed, was she winning even Lassie over? "Wait, Lassie asked for our help on the case?"

"It may have something to do with Sydney being from DC."

"I hope Lassie doesn't swoon, we all know how he gets around people from DC."

Jules couldn't even hide her laugh. "Let's get going, they've got a few minutes head start."

Shawn took off after Jules, trying to ignore the feeling that was growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Shotgun!" He called as the walked outside and smiled as he heard Gus grumbling behind him.

Lassiter turned the corner onto Los Palmos. Hard to believe the girl next to him was Spencer's daughter. Half the time, he couldn't get an intelligent thought from Spencer and here he was enjoying this conversation. Turns out, she was fascinated with the Civil War even if she wasn't as big of a fanatic as he was.

He was fascinated that she had lived in the midst of that piece of history, mere driving distance from battlegrounds and only 3 hours from Appomattox where the war had ended.

Needless to say, there weren't even close to running out of things to talk about.

"Tell me about the coffee shop." He almost missed Sydney's statement.

"What do you mean?"

"Is it a chain, like Starbucks, or a mom and pop shop?"

"Mom and Pop, make some great lattes." Lassiter liked to stop there on his way to work sometime.

"Single owner, co-owned?"

"Owned by a couple, older, been in business about 20 years."

Sydney nodded and looked out the window. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"What do you mean?" Lassiter gave her a quick glance as he stopped at a red light, a few blocks from the crime scene.

"I'm getting some seriously bad vibes, haven't had one like this since right before…"

"Before?"

He heard her sigh. "Before I found my mom."

"How did she die?"

"I really don't want to talk about it."

Lassiter nodded as the light turned green and he started to enter the intersection. He heard her turn and then heard her gasp. "Detective Lassiter, look out!"

He turned to see a pick up truck running the light, headed straight for them. He swerved the car but it still hit hard causing everything to go black.

Shawn felt the feeling grow, and started fidgeting in the passenger seat. "What's wrong Shawn?" He turned to see Juliet glancing at him in the rearview mirror.

"Just a bad vibe." He murmured, staring out the window.

"You're not psychic."

He turned to glare at Gus. "People still get them, psychic or not."

"How long have you had this vibe?"

"Since right before we left the station."

The radio on the dashboard started to crackle. "We have a 481 and a 207 at the corner of Los Palmos and Beachwood. Navy blue Ford Fushion and red pick up truck."

"This is Detective Ohara eta is two mintues."

"Copy that Detective."

Shawn felt the feeling grow. "Lassie drives a navy blue Ford Fusion."

"I know." Shawn turned to see Jules' grip tighten on the steering wheel. She put her siren on and hit the gas.

They pulled up to the scene and sure enough, it was Lassie's car. But both cars were empty.

Juliet barely put the car in park before getting out. "SBPD! Where are the drivers and passengers? Any witnesses?"

Shawn got out of the car as a older gentleman came over. "I was at the drug store when it happened. The pickup truck ran the red light and ran smack into the back of the car."

"Where's the driver?"

The man shrugged. "A minute later, a white van came and the driver jumped in and two others, a blonde and a large guy loaded the two from the car into the back and took off."

Shawn was looking at the car. Sitting on the floor of the passenger side was Sydney's bag; he picked it up before seeing her phone sitting on the seat.

The other side had Lassiter's phone sitting there. Whoever did this didn't want their phones to be traced. Like lack of phone tracing had stopped Shawn.

He turned to see Juliet looking at him, concern in his eyes. "Whoever did this, knew what they were doing."

"I talked to a few more people. It's sounding like Allison and Drimmer."

Shawn grabbed Sydney's phone and slid it into a pocket inside her bag. "We'll find them."

He looked to Gus who was standing right beside him. "Where do we start?"

Gus started to answer but Shawn heard Juliet gasp. She had made her way to the other side of the car. Shawn went over to join her and felt the feeling of dread grow. On the driver's door was the Yin/Yang symbol.


	5. Too Young

Lassiter groaned as he started to come to the surface again. Man, his head hurt. Slowly, he opened his eyes and made out a small room. The walls were made with cinderblock and the only light was coming from a small window near the ceiling.

Sydney.

He sat up, regretting it pretty quick when it made his head pound even more. He looked around and saw that he was lying on a cot, like the ones in the holding cells back at the station. Across the small room, it would maybe take him four steps to cross it, was another cot and Sydney lay sleeping.

Besides a couple of bruises, it looked like she may have a black eye in the morning, she appeared to be no worse for wear. In fact, she looked rather peaceful. Seemed like they were both were lucky. Both should have been hurt way worse.

He got up and went and tried the door and wasn't surprised to find it locked. A small window, covered in bars, revealed that they were in a basement of some sort. And they had his gun; he realized that he had the empty holster.

"Why do I feel like I got hit by a bus?"

Lassiter turned to see Sydney starting to stir. "It was a truck."

She sat up, wincing. "I think the airbag broke my nose."

"It's looking that way."

She got up and peeked out the window, using the cot as a step stool. "Where are we?"

He sat back down on the cot and sighed. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Sydney looked around before sitting down with a sigh. "I think this is what being in jail feels like."

Lassiter looked around and had to agree. "Looks like they are giving me a taste of my own medicine."

"Exactly, glad to see that you two are awake. Wouldn't want you to miss any of the fun." He turned to see Drimmer standing at the door and Cowley standing right behind him.

She had rope in her hand. "Who's your friend Detective?"

* * *

Shawn paced in front of Jules' desk, feeling helpless, annoyed, and frustrated. How could he have let this happen? He shouldn't have let her out of his sight.

How was he supposed to know? He should have. Were they ok? Were they hurt? Where were they?

Plenty of questions, but no answers. Around him, officers were buzzing around and he could see Chief Vick in her officer preparing a briefing.

Which led to more questions. They didn't have a photo. Shawn patted his pocket, feeling his wallet that held a strand of photo booth photos from yesterday. He should give it up; let them have a look since it would help them to know who they were looking for.

Chief Vick came out of her office and got everyone's attention. Juliet came to join him, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. "Earlier this afternoon, Head Detective Carlton Lassiter was abducted by, we believe to be, our escaped captives. With him, was Sydney Collins, 18 years old, just arrived in town yesterday. Family has not been contacted, since we don't know who to contact. We are looking into it."

Shawn felt backed into a corner did he say something? Did she even have family left back in DC? Did the family know about him? Did he want to take that chance? These were his friends, his co-workers he wanted to be the one to tell them. "Actually, chief?"

"Yes, Mr. Spencer."

"Her mother passed away and her father has been notified."

"How did you find the father?" Every so often, he managed to surprise her. Usually he loved it when it happened. Today it didn't carry its usual thrill.

"Trust me, when I say it wasn't that hard." Shawn looked to Gus, who had a concerned look on his face.

"Are you sure?"

"They're going to find out soon enough, it might as well be me who tells them."

Gus nodded, and held out a fist. "You've got this."

Shawn bumped fists and felt Juliet squeeze his hand.

"Care to elaborate, Mr. Spencer?" Chief Vick's eyebrow was doing it's questioning raise.

Shawn sighed as he released Jules' hand, pulling out his wallet and grabbing the strand of photo booth photos. "Sydney Collins has her mother's hair minus a strand of hot pink on the left side. She did it because she's always wanted to, but knew her mother would never approve. When her mother passed away a few months ago, she decided why not."

He made his way through the group to the front. "She has her father's eyes though, and his smile. Though her father didn't know this until yesterday when she arrived."

"Wait, you're saying her father is in Santa Barbara?"

"Yes." Shawn unfolded the strip, not showing the crowd the photo quite yet.

"Well then, where is her father?"

Shawn turned and looked Chief Vick in the eye. "Right here."

"I beg your pardon?"

He took a deep breath and sighed. "When you meet Sydney, the first thing you notice may be her eyes, or the way they light up when she smiles. You see the grief, never too far away, but they still light up."

"What does this have to do with her father?"

Shawn handed the strip to the chief. She looked at it, and Shawn knew it was the first picture she'd seen of Sydney. Her eyes grew wide, and she looked up at Shawn.

"She's, you…"

Shawn nodded and turned to the group. "Sydney Collins is my daughter." He ignored the surprised gasps, focusing on Jules and Gus. "She was with Lassie because I was interrogating the suspect. I know what you're thinking; it's the same thing I've been thinking since yesterday. Me? A father? Some of you are thinking man Shawn you screwed up. Right now, I'm focused on getting her back. I lost 18 years, I don't want to lose another day."

"Alright, we have a picture of Sydney. I will pass it around, take a look." Chief Vick cleared her throat.

"Be careful with it, it's our first picture together and I kinda want it back in one piece." Shawn got snickers for that as the picture went around the group.

He took the chance to try and slide to the back of the group. "Mr. Spencer, can I see you in my office for a moment?"

Shawn sighed and nodded, getting one last reassuring glance from Jules and Gus before heading into the office.

"Alright, we have a pic of the white van and the truck from the nearby traffic cam. The plates are being run as we speak. In the meantime, we still have the homicide from the coffee shop and convicts to recapture. Let's get to work!"

Shawn took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk and heard her come in and shut the door. "You just found out?"

"Yesterday, between the fights and the briefing."

"Are you sure?" She made her way behind the desk and took a seat.

"I'm sure. Lassie had Woody run a paternity test. We should have the results next week. But she's…"

"She's like you?"

"You're asking me if…"

"I'm asking you if she's psychic." She leaned forward and looked him right in the eyes.

"Can't say for sure, but it looks that way." He sighed leaned back in the chair. "Can I be honest?"

"I'd appreciate it."

"She's so much like me, it scares me. Yet at the same time, I can't help but be proud."

Chief Vick smiled as she leaned back. "So I'm going to have a junior psychic running around my station?"

"If she wants to." Shawn couldn't help but smile.

"She's too young to have already lost her mother." The chief murmured.

"She really is."

"Let me know if you divine any leads. We both would like this wrapped up as soon as possible."

"You know that's right Chief." Shawn stood up to leave.

"Oh, and Shawn?"

"Yeah Chief?"

"I've seen you figure out unsolvable cases. You'll figure out this whole father thing."

"Shawn!" Shawn turned and winced as he heard his father.

"Who let Henry in here?" The chief groaned.

"I've been asking that for years." That earned a chuckle.

"Shawn!"

"Let me calm him down before he demolishes your station."

She waved him off and he went out to find his father pacing outside the office. "What was she doing going on a call? She's only been here all of one day."

"Lassie took her with him, its sounding like she's winning everyone over."

"Where were you?"

Shawn pointed to the stairs. "Interrogating a suspect. You know, actually doing my job for once."

His Dad sighed and took a seat by Jules desk. "Any leads?"

"Nothing yet."

"There has to be something, family, next of kin."

"I'm getting their files pulled now." Jules walked over. "Bring the files and meet us back at the Psych office. If the chief asks, tell her the tenseness of the room is sending out bad ju-ju-bees."

Juliet held in the laugh. "I should be there in a few minutes."

"Come on Magic Head, Papa Monkey. We've got dinner to grab and a case to solve."

"Pick up something for me." Jules called after him.

"But of course." Shawn walked out of the SBPD and saw that the sun was starting to set. Hopefully, wherever Sydney was, she was safe.


	6. Black Belts and Christmas Carols

**hey guys! Thanks so much for sticking with me so far. I want to give a special shout out to fantomfaire for all the great reviews! I love reading reviews so please keep them coming! A little heads up. I started posting this when I thought I had a good chunk written. Turns out, I decided to change a lot and I'm now writing it as I go. So if I don't post for several days, that's why. Trust me, I'm going to finish this. (Want a spoiler? There's a sequel) Thanks for reading and enjoy!**

* * *

Lassiter eyed Lily Jenkins, who was looking down at him. He struggled against the ropes that tied him to the chair, but hadn't found a weak spot yet. "Still trying that Lassiter?"

"Who's your friend Detective?" Across the room from him, Sydney was tied to another chair, a hard look in her eyes.

"Who wants to know?" She glared at as Jenkins crossed over to her.

"This wants to know." The gun was brought up against Sydney's head.

To his surprise, Sydney didn't flinch. "We both know you won't use that. You didn't shoot those other guys, you had to get Daddy to come and do the job for you."

Lassiter felt his jaw drop, how did she know about that? Jenkins did a double take. "How did you know that?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sydney smirked, looking a lot like her father when she did it.

Jenkins slammed the gun into the side of Sydney's head and sent her flying forward before being yanked back by the rope. "I would like to know."

Jenkins started to cross the room to him, passing directly in front of Sydney. Before Lassiter could say anything, she was flat on the floor and Sydney had a smug look on her face.

Jenkins turned back to Sydney. "You little brat."

"I don't know what you're talking about, looks to me like you tripped."

How was she being so calm during this? Most people would be freaking out by now. Lassiter had to hold in a laugh, maybe she was more like her father than he'd realized.

Jenkins got up and pointed the gun back at Sydney. "I will shoot you."

"We both know you won't." Sydney started fidgeting. "Oh, and another thing."

"What?" Lassiter could see that Jenkins was seeing red at this point.

The ropes dropped from around Sydney and he felt his jaw drop. "A strong knot works wonders."

"How did you?" Jenkins charged at Sydney.

Before Lassiter could even blink, Sydney had her on the ground and was staring down as she got up.

She charged at Sydney who dodged and let off a punch. Jenkins turned, her nose already bloody, and returned it right into Sydney's gut. For a brief second, Sydney doubled over, allowing Jenkins to come close to try and deal a low blow. Just as she got close, Sydney grabbed her, flipped her, and for a second, Jenkins laid on the ground.

"We're getting out of here now." Sydney picked up Jenkins' gun and ran over to him.

"Where did you learn that?" He asked as he felt her loosening the rope.

"Black belt. Move, she'll get up in a second." grabbed him, pushed Lassiter out the door, shut it, and locked it as Jenkins charged for a door.

"One down, three to go." Sydney made a face at Jenkins through the window.

Lassiter eyed the gun in her hand. "Sydney."

"What?"

"The gun?"

"What about it?"

"Hand it over."

He watched as she seriously debated it in her head before handing it over. "Fine." She turned and started down the hall mumbling something.

Something like, I have way better aim…

* * *

It had taken longer to get to the Psych office than Shawn had thought. His dad had insisted on stopping by his house and came out with a photo album, which he had handed to Shawn.

He had spent the rest of the ride to the office, looking through it and getting a glimpse at Sydney's life. There had been pictures of her in the hospital with Becca holding her. She seemed so happy.

More baby pictures followed, her nursery a vision of pink that had Becca's name all over it. Her first birthday cake was a teddy bear. The pictures kept coming, birthdays, Christmas, karate competitions, graduations, and a few others.

Finally, Pizza was ordered and Shawn paced the Psych office, going between his desk and Gus', between the TV and the window, the kitchen and his desk. He couldn't sit still, not when he didn't know if Sydney was ok, where she was, and what he was going to do to get the answers to those questions.

"Son, you're going to wear a hole in the floor." His dad sat in one of the chairs by the window, newspaper in hand. Shawn glanced at the album was sitting on his desk, open to a photo from her 17th birthday with both her and Becca.

Like he had room to talk. He had only just settled down after spending the entire car ride going off at Shawn, Gus, and the random homeless person who happened to be standing on a street corner when the stopped for a red light.

"Shawn, you need to save your energy."

"Please, when have I been short on energy? Gus is the one that likes to crash due to sugar highs."

"That was one time."

"I think it was twice in one day."

Gus grumbled from where he sat behind his desk. With a sigh, Shawn plopped down and turned on the TV, flipping through the channel until he found some animated Christmas special and watched that, dozing off.

He found himself standing in the middle of the SBPD, but something was off. Deciding to figure it out, he headed downstairs and something told him to go into the holding cell area. When he opened the door, he stopped cold when he found himself and Becca glaring at each other.

"I can't believe this." Shawn's past self slammed his fist against the bars.

"That makes two of this." Becca turned away facing the corner. Shawn came in and let the door shut behind him. So this is what Scrooge felt like in A Christmas Carol.

"Oh, so this is my fault."

"Of course its your fault." She whirled around and Shawn could see the anger in her eyes from where he stood across the room.

"It was your neighbor's car."

"You took the dare."

Shawn saw himself pause and he knew she was right. "You let me."

"Wrong thing to say man." Shawn muttered.

The door to the area opened and a much younger Lassie came in. "Miss Collins?"

Becca looked up. "Yeah?"

"Your parents are here."

"I'm so dead." She groaned as Lassie opened the cell and let her out leaving Shawn. "Goodbye Shawn."

"Becca."

"Don't Becca me. I never want to speak to you again." Lassie led her out and the door shut with a bang.

"You know I didn't mean it."

He whirled around to find the voice and suddenly found himself in the Psych office. Sitting in one of the chairs by the window, was Becca.

"You had every right to say that."

"Doesn't mean I should have." She sighed and looked around. "Has anyone told you this looks like a guys dorm?"

"I may have heard that a couple of times."

She smiled. "You know, I figured if I left I could pretend it didn't happen. But then she was born, and she had your eyes."

"And my devilish smile."

"Someone's ego hasn't deflated in 18 years."

Shawn wheeled his office chair and sat in front of her. "Did you expect anything less?"

She turned and eyed the window. "I didn't expect that.

"Long story, sounds like we've both got some."

"You could say that."

He eyed the album, which even in his dream was still sitting on his desk. "She seemed to have a good childhood."

"I did my best."

"She seems amazing."

"Wait til you get to know her better."

"Is she hiding something?"

"You tell me psychic." A knowing smile came on her face.

He turned away and paced to his desk and let out a sigh. "What am I going to do? She's been kidnapped. I can't even go one day without putting her in harms way.

He heard footsteps behind him and felt a hand on his shoulder. "From what I've read, you'll figure it out. I wouldn't have pointed her in your direction if I didn't think it was the best choice."

"I lost her."

He felt himself being turned around until he was face to face with Becca. "She's your daughter. She's smart, resourceful, and brave. You both will get through this."

"Glad one of us is sure."

"Take care of her for me."

"Shawn?" He heard Juliet, but she sounded far away."

"I will Becca. Oh, one more thing."

"Shawn?" Juliet sounded a little louder.

"What is it?"

"He's really out of it." Gus decided to chime in.

He turned back to Becca, knowing that they wouldn't let him sleep for much longer. "I'm sorry."

"Me to." Shawn barely heard her response as the scene faded and was replaced with Jules' and Gus' concerned faces.

"Are you ok?" Jules eyed him, concern in his eyes.

Shawn got up, shook his head to clear it, and eyed the pizza. "Yeah, just working stuff out in my head."

"Why did you keep saying Becca?" Gus came over and grabbed a slice of Hawaiian.

"You know how I have to go to sleep to think clearly?"

"Yeah."

"It was Becca, here, talking to me about Sydney." Shawn grabbed a slice.

"Anything good."

"Just stuff I already knew." Shawn sat down behind his desk. "Jules, did you bring those files?"

"Right here." She handed him a stack of folders, keeping one for herself.

He handed one to Gus and one to his dad, keeping the last one for himself. As he went to open it, the photo album caught his eye and he saw Sydney and Becca smiling back at him. She was right; they'd figure this out.

Letting out a sigh, he felt a smile grow on his face as he hit the play button and Christmas music filled the office. "Let's get to work."


	7. So Close

Lassiter followed behind Sydney, hoping she had a plan. Knowing his luck she didn't and was doing what her father seemed to do a lot.

She found the staircase and paused. Holding out her hand so he couldn't pass. For a minute, she stood there still and silent. She must have heard what she wanted because she crept up the stairs, Lassiter following close behind.

He watched as she cracked the door open, peeked out, and then slammed it open. "You know, my mom raised me to be polite to guests. Were you two raised in a barn or something?"

"What the?"

"How did she get out?"

He had to laugh at the surprise in their voices and he came up the stairs, gun at the ready. "Freeze."

Standing in the middle of what looked to be a living room was Drimmer. Wignal was sitting on the couch and stood up when he entered. "Detective."

"Wignal."

"Who's the brat?"

"What's with everyone calling me that? I like to think that I have a sweet sunshiny personality." Sydney made her way to the kitchen counter and sat on top of it.

Lassiter had to hold a laugh in. "Who she is, is none of your business."

He heard a click and saw Drimmer point a gun right at him. "How about now?"

"Are we really going to do this again?"

"Cause it ended so well for you the first time." Sydney muttered as she started digging through drawers.

"She's got a point." Lassiter took a couple steps forward.

Drimmer glared between the two of them, and for a second he saw that he didn't know what to do.

"Oh, this is an original hiding place." Lassiter heard a click and looked over to see Sydney holding a gun pointed right at Drimmer. "I believe the odds aren't in your favor. And for future reference, kitchen drawers aren't a good hiding place."

"Its convenient though." Lassiter murmured and Sydney glanced at him quickly.

"Really?"

"What?" Lassiter shrugged, not taking his attention away from Drimmer.

Drimmer was looking even more uncertain. Lassiter heard a car outside and Drimmer smiled and quickly turned and shot towards Sydney.

She jumped down from the counter and returned it, but Drimmer was already on his way out the door. Lassiter turned and fired a couple of shots and grazed Drimmer's shoulder with the last one as he disappeared out of sight into the night.

Wignall tried to run but Sydney came charging out of the kitchen and threw a punch that stunned him. Lassiter crossed the room and threw the punch that sent him to the ground. Behind him, he heard another thump and turned to see Sydney doubled over on the ground.

"Sydney?" Lassiter hurried over to where she had sat up and found her on the floor examining her foot. Blood was already seeping through her show.

"He got off a lucky shot, but he can enjoy trying to move that shoulder." She winced.

"What were you doing?"

She looked up. "What needed to be done."

"He got away." Lassiter dragged Wignal and shut him in the basement so he couldn't' get away when he woke up.

"He'll be back."

Lassiter knew he had to be looking like she was crazy. "What makes you say that?"

She nodded to the table on the far side of the room. "Those papers may answer that."

"Let's take care of you first." He picked her up and sat her on the couch, propping her foot on the table. "Did the bullet go clear through?"

Sydney looked at the bottom of her shoe and pulled out a bullet. "Yup."

"Take off the shoe, we've got to clean that." Lassiter looked around and found a bathroom. After some digging, he found some first aid supplies and a towel. "Clean it, now."

Sydney tried to get the shoe off but winced. "I can't, getting it off involves moving my foot too much."

He grabbed the bottle of alcohol, paused, grabbed a pillow, and handed it to her. "This is going to hurt."

"I know." She squeezed the pillow.

He poured part of the bottle over the hole in the top of her shoe and heard Sydney cry out in pain. He did the same for the bottom and received the same result.

"Holy crap that hurt."

"I know." Lassiter put the cap on the bottle. He held up the towel. "I'm going to have to wrap it shoe and all."

"Hopefully, that will stop the bleeding." Sydney looked around and he saw a smile grow on her face. "There's a phone in this room."

He looked around, not seeing one. "Can you be a little more specific?"

"Kitchen, wall side cabinet. Umm, I'm seeing the top one?" Sydney had her eyes closed and was concentrating.

Lassiter looked over but didn't see anything. With a shrug, he wrapped her foot in the towel and she held it there. With a nod, he went and found a phone in the cabinet. He stretched the base as far as he could, and then dialed a number.

"SBPD, how may I direct your call?"

"Chief Karen Vick please."

"May I ask who's calling?"

"Head Detective Carlton Lassiter."

"Hold on a second Detective." Lassiter let out a sigh of relief, eyeing Sydney who was humming something to herself.

"Detective?" The chief sounded frantic when she picked up.

"Yeah Chief?"

"Oh thank goodness." He heard her sigh of relief. "Trace this call." She must have waved someone in.

"Right away Chief."

"Are you two ok?"

"Sydney was shot by Drimmer but we both managed to get him. He got away with I'm assuming Cowley. Jenkins and Wignall are locked in the basement."

As if on cue, pounding started on the basement door. "Nice try suckers! The only way you're getting out of that basement is by wearing a pair of matching bracelets." Sydney made a face at the door.

Lassiter laughed. " I think she'll be ok. Oh, the airbag may have broken her nose, but she hasn't let that phase her."

"Have you called Mr. Spencer?"

"Why would I call him before you?" Lassiter tried to play dumb, not sure if Spencer had spilled the beans yet.

"Because he's worried sick about Sydney and Henry is on a warpath."

He groaned, remembering the last time Henry had been on a family member related warpath. "I'm surprised he hasn't managed to mobilize the National Guard."

"Probably not from lack of effort." The chief's voice held a hint of a laugh. "Are you ok, Detective?"

"So far, I've been on the better end of this than Sydney."

"A team is on its way, hold tight."

"Will do."

"Call Spencer."

"Which one?"

"Both, I think they're together at the Psych office."

Lassiter nodded. "Will do."

The call ended and Lassiter looked over to see Sydney staring out the still open door. "Detective?"

"What's wrong?"

She looked over to him, and for the first time he saw fear in her eyes. "I have a feeling that they are going to come back before the cops get here."

* * *

Shawn felt his eyes glaze over, he'd been staring at Wignall's file for over an hour and nothing shed any light onto what they were up to, no idea where they'd stashed Lassie and Syd.

He leaned back in frustration and looked around. Gus was playing some game on his computer and hoping no one noticed. Juliet was bent over her graph paper, and his Dad was trying to make it look like he hadn't dozed off reading the paper.

Needing a distraction, he grabbed the photo album and turned it to the beginning, this time studying the pictures. A photo, he checked the caption to see it was Halloween when she was 7, showed her in a Sherlock Holmes costume jacket and all.

He heard a noise and saw Henry straighten up. "What time is it?"

"About nine." Gus didn't look away from the screen.

"How's the game."

"Would you stop doing that?" Gus looked away long enough to glare.

"Would you try challenging me every once in a while." Shawn laughed as the phone rang. He grabbed the cordless, on its charger for once, and answered. "Psych."

"Spencer."

Shawn sat straight up at the sound of Lassie's voice, quickly putting it on speaker. "Lassie?"

"Carlton?"

"Lassiter?"

"Lassie?" Gus, Jules, and his dad came running to the phone.

"Are you trying to find us or having a party there, Spencer?"

"Where's Sydney?" Shawn and his dad answered in unison.

"Relax guys, I'm fine." She didn't sound fine, she sounded like she was in pain. But still, Shawn was relieved to hear her voice.

"She may have been shot."

"You let her get shot?" Once again in unison, it was getting kinda weird.

"He didn't let me, it just happened." Shawn could practically hear the eye roll.

"Are you ok Syd?"

"I'm fine Shawn, he got me in the foot, I'm trying to stop the bleeding. How's Chipper?"

His dad laughed. "He's fine, checked on him before we came to the Psych office."

Shawn wasn't going to let her change the subject. "You're sure you're ok?"

"As ok as one can be after being shot."

A knock sounded at the door and Chief Vick walked in. "Guys, we have a lock on their location." She was already back out the door. Jules raced after her.

"See you in a few Syd."

"See you Shawn."

Shawn hung up the phone and ran out the door behind everyone. Time to get Sydney back.

* * *

Lassiter hung up the phone and turned to where Sydney was filling backpacks that he had found. She had it in her head that they were going to have to make a run for it. To humor her, he had run all over the cabin gather supplies and had even found a cane.

"Alright, we've got food, water, blankets, bullets, matches, flashlights…" Sydney muttered to herself.

He went over to the table to check out the papers she had pointed out earlier. There was a paper full of what had to be an equation, as if someone was trying to find the right chemical balance or something. Receipts for food, clothes, and gas lay scattered. Apparently they didn't see a need to keep any of this organized.

But he noticed there was something under all that. He moved the papers to the side and found schematics for the SPBD, the Psych office, and their homes. How did they get these? What were they planning?

"Detective." Sydney broke through his thoughts.

He turned to see her wearing two different shoes. Drimmer's feet were several sizes larger than hers so she had borrowed a shoe to work over hers, something to help keep the wound clean. "What is it?"

"They're coming."

Lassiter went to the door and didn't see anything. A minute later, he saw a car at the bottom of the hill, and he knew it wasn't backup. They were so close.

"Can you walk?"

Sydney adjusted the straps on her pack and he grabbed his bag and did the same. "I don't have a choice, now do I?"

She got up, and he could see the pain in her eyes, but she didn't stop. Using the cane, she limped over to him, passed him, and started making her way towards the woods.

Lassiter followed her away from the cabin and into the dark woods, hoping this wasn't a huge mistake. They paused just inside the tree line and watched as Cowley and Drimmer got out of the truck, guns in hand. They disappeared into the cabin and a second later Lassiter heard them yell.

"They got away!" Cowley's voice rang out.

"You bet we did." Sydney laughed.

Lassiter turned away from the cabin and started into the woods. "Let's put some distance between us and them."

"Best idea I've heard all day." Sydney leaned on the cane and slowly made her way, Lassiter let her take the lead.


	8. Tell Me About Him

Shawn was surprised at how well the Blueberry was taking the dirt road. According to the GPS coordinates he'd gotten from Jules, they were about two minutes away from where Lassie had made the call. Impatiently, Shawn tapped the arm rest, ready to get to Sydney, ready for this to be over, ready to… did he know what he was ready for?

They should have been there already, but Shawn had to fight with his dad in order to get him to stay home. As they rounded a bend they came to a clearing that housed a two-story log cabin. The clearing was full of police cars, swat vans, ambulances, and chaos in general.

He made his way through the crowd and came to the porch of the cabin. In the living room area, forensics were already at work and Chief Vick stood in the middle slapping the cuffs on Charles Wignall.

"Where is she?"

"She's not here." Chief Vick had concern in her eyes.

Shawn grabbed Wignall by the arm and shoved him up against the nearby wall. "Where are they?"

"Mr. Spencer!" He heard the chief behind him, but chose to ignore her.

"Where is she?"

"You tell me Psychic." Wignall's eyes were cold.

Shawn threw him to the ground and stood over him, sure his glare was stronger than Wignall's. The last time he'd been this angry was when his dad was shot. "Don't play games with me. Where. Are. They."

"Shawn!" He heard Jules cry out from behind him.

Shawn saw Wignall start to realize just how angry Shawn was because fear started to creep into his eyes. He backed himself into a corner and Shawn took a couple steps forwards, leaving some room between himself and Wignall. "Do I really need to ask again?"

Wignall tried to scoot further into the corner but it wasn't doing any good. Shawn started to move forward and felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Jules, her eyes full of concern.

"Don't do anything you'll regret."

"Trust me, I won't." He turned back. "You were about to say."

"I wasn't about to say anything." He tried to hide his fear, but Shawn knew he knew it wasn't working.

"Nice try."

"I don't know."

"Don't know, or don't want to tell." Shawn took a step forward.

"I was in the basement, I heard them talking, they stopped, and then Allison and Drimmer came back."

Shawn turned away, and took a deep breath before examining the scene. There was a group of guys gathered around the couch and Shawn could see a bloody towel lying there. Probably Sydney's blood.

He walked around the room and stepped out onto the porch. On the ground, he could just make out an odd set of footprints. He started to follow and heard footsteps behind him.

"Shawn!" He turned to see Gus following him.

"Do you see this?" One footprint was larger than the other, almost like the person had been wearing two different shoes, wearing two different shoes and limping to be exact.

"What?"

"These footprints."

"What about them?" Gus caught up to him as they approached the tree line. The prints disappeared into the forest.

"Whoever made them was limping."

Had to be Sydney. "I'm sensing something!" He turned back to the cabin and yelled.

Jules and the chief came running out of the house. "What is is Shawn?"

"I'm sensing a limp, a big shoe, Mr. Bean?" Shawn eyed the ground around him and saw three more sets of prints. One looked to be Lassie's size. The others he could only guess to be Cowley's and Drimmer's.

"Carlton and Sydney?" Jules came running to join him. "Where are they?"

"Well there's good news, bad news, and more bad news."

"Such as Mr. Spencer?" The chief joined them.

He pointed into the woods. "The good news is they got away."

"The bad news?"

"Allison Cowley and Drimmer have followed them."

"And the more bad news?"

Shawn stared into the woods and couldn't see anything. "All four of them are wandering in the woods, and Sydney's barely able to walk."

* * *

To her credit, Sydney had managed to make it about an hour before she couldn't go any further. Lassiter helped her sit down on the forest floor.

"We're in a mess aren't we?" She leaned up against a tree.

He grabbed a flashlight, turned, and walked a few steps checking the situation. The woods, why did it have to be the woods? He shivered, partially from the chill that had filled the air and partially from his hatred of the great outdoors.

"Detective?" Sydney's question was quiet.

"Yeah?" He flashed the light in her direction.

"Can we try to start a fire?"

He bent down and started to pick up some kindle. "Sounds like a plan." The next few minutes were spent gathering a decent sized stack of twigs, with some larger pieces when he could find them. A few minutes after that, he actually managed to get a fire started. Hmm, maybe he wasn't completely useless in the middle of the woods.

Sydney dug through her bag, pulled out her blanket and draped it over her legs. She then pulled out some beef jerky, grabbed a piece, and then held out the bag. He took it and grabbed a couple of pieces before handing it back.

It was quiet for a bit, both seemed lost in their own thoughts, Sydney went back to humming the song from earlier, something he recognized from somewhere. Lassiter leaned back against a tree, and tried to think of a way out of this mess.

Needing a distraction, he let his thoughts wander to Marlowe and felt a smile grow on his face. Hopefully, she wasn't freaking out over this. Hopefully he was back with her soon. For a bit, he let his mind wander and it was almost as if he wasn't stuck in the middle of the woods with Spencer's newly discovered daughter.

"I just met him." He almost missed her statement and turned to see her staring into the fire.

"Spencer?" He tossed a couple more sticks into the fire.

"Yeah, and I can't even half-what admit he's my dad. How dumb is that? I mean I've dreamt of my father for years, dreamt of what it would be like if he showed up one day and I wasn't getting whoever mom happened to be dating at the time to take me to daddy/daughter dances. I would receive the next level belt and imagine he was in the dojo taking pictures, I liked to imagine he would be proud."

He let out a sigh. It would be Spencer's daughter that would work her way into his heart like her father worked his way under his skin. "You'll say it when you're ready."

She sighed and shifted, trying to get comfortable but he could tell she was't. "I got a letter, the day of Mom's funeral. She had written it years ago, updating it now and then, in case something happened to her."

"Telling you about Spencer."

"Yeah, and at first I was so angry at her. What was so wrong about knowing who my father was before she died? She wouldn't talk about it, and after awhile, I knew better than to bring it up."

"Your mom didn't talk about him?"

"Nope, not a bit. Hey Detective?"

"You've known my da… my… You've known Shawn for awhile."

"Almost nine years now." Lassiter leaned back against a tree.

Sydney zipped up her backpack laid in on the ground, and scooted so that she was laying down and using it for a pillow. "Tell me about two things."

He tossed a couple more sticks into the fire. "What do you want to know?"

"Can you tell me about him?"

"Spencer?"

"Yeah." She pulled her blanket a little closer.

"And the other thing?"

"I'm sensing it was girl who made you smile a bit ago. That's she's special."

He leaned back against the tree. "Where to start… I guess the beginning. The first real conversation I had with him. My partner and I had arrested a store manager in relation to some stereo robberies. A tip had been called in and we knew the guy had a partner. So we called the tipster in, his info was so good…"

"It had to come from the inside."

"That's what I thought. So my partner goes out to the lobby to get our suspect and in walks."

"Shawn."

"Are you telling this or am I?" He turned to see her eyes closed.

"Sorry." A smile crept on her face.

"But yes, in walked Shawn Spencer with a list of strikes against him as long as my arm and a snarky attitude that drove me up the wall…

* * *

It was amazing how fast a base camp could be set up. Within an hour, Shawn watched cars get moved to the side of the clearing, tents arrive from SPBD, a village of said tents set up to one side, and park rangers arrive.

"Everyone, listen up." Chief Vick was already getting use out of the recently arrived bullhorn. A crowd gathered by the cabin. "We've put out an APB on Cowley and Drimmer. A recent revelation from Mr. Spencer has them in the forest along with Detective Lassiter and an injured Sydney Collins. This is Ranger Woodard, he is the heard ranger for the local park services and will heading up his team alongside ours."

The ranger nodded. "Yes, my team knows this wood and hope to be an asset to your search. Keep in mind, these woods aren't the easiest terrain."

"Also keep in mind that Miss Collins sustained a gunshot wound to the foot. We found traces of rubbing alcohol on the floor in the cabin, we are assuming they tried to clean the wound but there is still risk for infection, especially with her wandering the woods."

"The sooner we find her the better." Shawn added, some people turning towards him. "Plus we all know how Lassie gets if he doesn't have his coffee. Poor kid…"

That earned some snickers. Chief Vick tried not to laugh. "Alright, get a good night's sleep and we'll start the search at first light."

The crowd dispersed and Shawn made his way to the tent that he was sharing with Jules and Gus. "Alright! Slumber party! It's been awhile buddy!"

"Cannot believe I am camping with you in the middle of the woods." He was grumbling as he rolled out a sleeping bag.

"Relax buddy. We'll be out here tonight and then tomorrow you can sleep in your own bed with your fireman pjs." He turned to Jules. "I think this is our first three-some sleepover."

She shook her head. "We'd better get some sleep, it's going to be a long day tomorrow." She unzipped one of the sleeping bags and laid it out on the tent before unzipping the other and setting it on top.

"Let me make a quick phone call." Shawn left the tent and called his Dad.

"Took you long enough! How is she? Where is she?" Not even a hello.

"I don't know and I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"They were gone when we got here. "

"What do you mean gone?"

Shawn started pacing in a circle. " They were gone, prints led into the woods, and it looks like two of our convicts might have gone after her."

"Wait, she's been shot and now she's wandering the woods?"

"It looks that way."

He heard rustling on the other end. "That's it. I'm coming up there."

"If you have to, can you swing by my place and get a change of clothes for me and Jules? I think Gus has some clothes there too."

"Yeah yeah." More rustling.

"See you when you get here."

"See ya kiddo." The call ended and Shawn headed over to where Chief Vick was talking with Ranger Woodard on the porch of the cabin. "Chief, can I have a sec?"

She looked up from the map they had spread out. "Sure thing, Mr. Spencer." She walked over. "Did you divine something?"

"Not yet, I had a question about Sydney."

She nodded, understanding coming on her face. "What is it?"

"What are we looking at?"

"Best case?"

"Sure."

Chief Vick paused to think. "Some broken bones in her foot."

"Worst case?"

"Infection, which left untreated could lead to a fever, chills, worsening pain."

"How long before it's a serious problem?"

She shrugged. "Depends on the case. Symptoms could show up as early as now or as late as three days from now. The more serious ones could start making an appearance as early as tomorrow."

Shawn sighed. "So I guess we need to find them ASAP."

"At least before our friends out there do."

"Thanks for shooting straight with me Chief." Shawn turned away, heading back for his tent.

Gus apparently had raided the snack tent and had a bag of Funions. He tossed the extra bag to Shawn. "What did the chief have to say?"

"She says we need to find them soon."

"I guess we'd better do that."

"I guess so, besides there's another bonus to finding them quick." Shawn ducked inside the tent.

"What's that?" Gus followed. Shawn saw Jules was already laying down.

"The quicker we find them, the quicker we can get out of these woods."

"You know that's right."


	9. Day One

Lassiter groaned, man not only did he feel like he'd been hit by a truck, he felt like he then spent the night on the forest floor. Oh wait…

He sat up and turned to see Sydney sleeping and let out a sigh of relief. Several times throughout the night, she had woken up screaming from nightmares. It would take several minutes for her to calm down, and several more for her to fall back asleep. One thing was for sure, if he never heard screams like that again, it would be too soon.

Digging into his backpack, he found a can of peaches and opened them, eating half, and then sat the lid on top to save the rest for Sydney. The forest was waking up and bit by bit, more light was pouring in from above the trees.

Having nothing better to do, Lassiter leaned back against the tree and relaxed. Sydney needed to sleep more than they needed to move.

He must have dozed off again because the next thing he knew something was shaking him gently. Quickly he sat up and frantically looked around. After a second, he saw Sydney a couple of feet away from him.

"Didn't mean to scare you." She had the can of peaches in her hand.

"How long have you been up?"

"Not that long." She shifted positions and winced.

He grabbed a bottle of painkillers out of his bag and handed her some. "They aren't going to get rid of the pain."

She grabbed a water bottle and chugged them town. "They'll take the edge off. Sorry about last night, they happen sometimes."

"The nightmares?"

"Yeah, ever since…" He saw her pause like she'd already said too much.

"Ever since what?" He started to fold up his blanket and fit it back into the bag.

She started to do the same, and at first he thought she was going to ignore the question. "Ever since my mom died."

He really didn't know how to respond to that. "How did she die?"

"I really don't want to talk about it."

Lassiter knew it was time to back off and pulled the first aid kit out of the bag. "Alright, let's see the foot."

Sydney sat her foot right in from of him, and he worked Drimmer's shoe off. Warning bells went off in his head when he smelled something off and it wasn't foot odor. Sure enough, along with the blood, he could see some pus. "Son of a…"

"What?"

He gingerly started working the shoe off, they had to get it off and get the wound wrapped. Half-way off the exit wound started to bleed again and Sydney cried out in pain. He kept going and got it off, tossing it to the side. He wasn't going to mess with the sock. "Let's clean this a little better."

Grabbing the alcohol, he took a piece of gauze and started to dab at both the entry and exit wound. "It's infected isn't it?"

"It's starting to look that way." He kept going and managed to pry the sock off, tossing it over with the shoe. Putting a guaze pad on both wounds, he wrapped her foot and slid Drimmer's shoe back on. "You can't walk on that."

"Well, we can't sit here." She zipped up her bag, tears in her eyes.

"Also a good point." Lassiter got up, zipped up his bag, crouched down in front of Sydney. "Get on."

"You're going to give me a piggy back ride through the woods with the possibility of two convicted murderers hunting us down."

"Just get on and let's get going." He rolled his eyes as he felt her comply. He shifted her weight and then grabbed his backpack, hanging it on her good foot like it was a hook.

"You met Marlowe at a bar?"

He started off in what he hoped was the direction of the road he'd seen last night. "Yeah, it was after a rather long shift at work…"

The day dragged slowly and quickly Lassiter realized that he wasn't going in the direction of the road. In fact, he had no idea where he was.

To make matters worst, shortly after what he guessed to be noon Sydney started to run a fever. Both had tried to make light of it, but both knew she needed help.

"Detective?" He was surprised to hear her voice, he thought she'd been napping.

"Welcome back Sydney?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How mad would you be if I started calling you Lassie, like Shawn?"

He couldn't hold in the laugh at the question. "Promise you won't tell him this."

"Ok…"

"His nickname for me has kinda grown on me, I don't mind it nearly as much as he thinks I do."

He heard her laugh. "I won't tell."

"My turn for a question." He shifted her weight around.

"Go ahead"

* * *

"Shawn?" Shawn groaned as he felt someone start to shake him. He was quickly remembering why he hated camping.

"Shawn, get up." Jules was shaking him.

"I'm up, I'm up." He sat up. "It's Sleepy McSleepypants over there that you should be worried about." He nodded to where Gus was curled up wearing the fireman pjs his dad had brought the previous night.

"I was going to let you handle that." She slipped out of the text before he could say anything. Grumbling, he threw on the jeans and shirt his dad had brought throwing them on and running his hand through his hair. Digging through the bag, he found some Wisps. Victory! No more morning breath.

Ready to leave the tent, he turned to the sleeping form of his best friend. "I'm going to get breakfast, you can join if you want."

As he left the tent, he saw Gus sit straight up. He walked away and laughed, he gave him two minutes before he saw him again. Making his way across the camp to the mess tent, he saw various officers in various states of morning daze.

"Morning Mr. Spencer." Chief Vick was sitting just inside the mess tent, sipping from a cup of coffee. Her usual business suit was replaced with jeans and a flannel shirt.

"Morning Chief." He grabbed a cup of coffee and loaded up on food before heading to a table.

He had barely gotten started good when Gus came into the tent and loaded his higher than Shawn's. Coming to join Shawn, both ate in silence for a few minutes.

"You something Gus?"

Gus looked up. "What?"

"I've always hated camping, with a deep loathing passion. Like Elmer Fudd hated Rabbits."

"Ever since your father dragged us on this trips, I've hated it to."

Speaking of his dad, he entered the mess tent looking like he did every day. How could someone look normal after spending the night on the ground?

"We will have a briefing by the cabin in ten minutes." Chief Vick yelled out from her spot by the door before leaving the tent. His dad joined them and started eating.

Shawn inhaled the rest of breakfast and left Gus eating with his dad. Outside the tent, he saw Jules talking to Buzz. "Buzz!"

"Hey Shawn, how'd you sleep?"

"Let's just saw, I remembered why I don't like camping."

Buzz laughed. "You too?"

"Yup." He turned to Jules. "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept fine, I used to do this all the time with my brothers." Like his dad, somehow Jules was managing to look amazing despite last night's sleeping conditions. Plus she was wearing an adorable top that made her eyes pop.

He leaned in for a quick kiss. "At least one of us did."

"Are you getting any visions of Sydney and Detective Lassiter?" Buzz interrupted.

"It seems as if the spirits don't like camping either, that and they seem to not be morning people. Hopefully I'll have something later." Shawn stretched as if to prove a point.

As a group, they headed over to the cabin to where Chief Vick was standing with Ranger Woodard. There were already people gathered, talking with each other while they waited. As they joined the group, Shawn felt some glances his way.

Shawn felt Jules tightened her grip on his hand in reassurance. "We'll find them."

"I know." Shawn listened as Chief Vick started her briefing, saying a lot of the same things she had said the night before. She explained that the packs that were sitting by the porch had GPS devices as well as walkie-talkies, food, and medical supplies.

The forest had been divided into sections and each team was assigned a section of the forest. Shawn saw that he was paired with Jules, Gus, and his dad. He was relieved to be staying close, if he wasn't the one to find her; he wanted to be able to get to her quick.

As the meeting broke up, Shawn grabbed the pack and slung it onto his back. "Let's get going. The sooner we find Sydney the sooner I don't have to stop Papa Bear here from trying to mobilize the California National Guard."

That was met with laughter as he handed the GPS device to Jules who lead them into the trees. The next couple hours passed quickly as they searched high and low, not finding much of anything.

After a break for lunch, Shawn felt that something was off. Following his gut and ignoring everyone's questions, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, he looked around and tried to find it.

Gus stopped cold. "Do you guys smell that?"

"We don't have the Super Sniffer buddy." Shawn was standing a few feet away and watched as Gus looked around.

"It smells like a fire, one that was put out a few hours ago. It's faint. And there's something else, something off "

"Where's it coming from?"

Gus took off. "This way."

Shawn took off after him, and stopped cold when they found what had to be a campsite. There was a section of ground that still had ashes, and nearby sat a shoe that Shawn recognized.

Where from? He thought about it for a minute and realized that it was one of the shoes Sydney had been wearing yesterday. It was covered in blood and had an odd smell coming off of it and Shawn had a feeling it wasn't just foot odor. "Sydney was here."

"Are you sure Shawn?"

"Positive, this is her shoe. And I'm sensing some more bad news."

"You can cut the psychic act, it's just us." Gus rolled his eyes causing Shawn to laugh.

Shawn shrugged. "Force of habit."

"What's the bad news?"

Shawn felt someone behind him and knew Jules was grabbing an evidence bag out of the pack. "Sydney's wound is infected."


	10. We Can Figure It Out Together

The sun started to set, and Lassiter started to look for a good spot to stop for the night. He had to be going in circles or something, surely he would have run into something by now.

Four days. Four long days of wandering the woods. Four long days of wandering the woods with a girl who's need for medical attention grew by the minute.

Speaking of, he felt Sydney shift on his back and could feel the heat radiating off of her. More often than not the last few days she had been incoherent.

Finding a small clearing, he eased Sydney off of his back and set her on the ground, using her bag as a pillow and the blanket over her. She moved a little, pulled the blanket close, and the disappeared into the fog she had been earlier.

He went through the motions of finding twigs for firewood, starting the fire, and cleaning Sydney's wound. He winced as the smell hit, and he saw the redness around the wound. Luckily he had caught her in a fog so she didn't cry out in pain.

Finally feeling as if he could relax, he leaned up against a tree and rolled his shoulders, trying to work out some of the soreness. When they got out of this mess, he was looking up a good chiropractor.

Lassiter dug in the bag, looking for what little food he could find. Even Sydney hadn't planned to be stuck out here this long. Saving some for Sydney in case she woke up hungry, he ate some food and not for the first time worried about what they were going to do.

Throwing more sticks in the fire, he started to settle down. Beside him, Sydney stirred. "Lassie?"

"Welcome back Sydney."

"How many days has it been?"

"Four."

She groaned. "This isn't looking good isn't it."

"We'll get out of this."

She shifted into a sitting up position and winced in pain. "Just in case."

"Just in case what?"

"You know."

He turned and saw her deep in thought and breathing hard. "Don't talk like that."

"In case I don't make it out of this, there's something Shawn needs to know."

"You'll make it out to tell him."

"Let me say this before I slip under again. We both know one of these times I might not come back." She dug in her bag and took a small sip out of her almost empty water bottle.

Lassiter sighed and turned to face her. "Ok."

"What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave us and Shawn. If I make it through this, I'll be the one to tell him. Otherwise, you are to act like you don't know."

Now she had his interest. "Ok."

"If someone acts like they know this, you don't say a word unless they give you the passcode."

"And that is?" He was really interested now.

"Sagittarius" She fidgeted, not in pain but almost nervously.

"Ok, what do I need to tell Spencer?"

She let out a sigh. "We have to go back to 2002 to answer that…"

Shawn sat down at a table and took a sip of coffee. Four days, it was hard to believe it had been four days. Jules sat down next to him looking exhausted. Gus was already out cold in the tent.

The crew here was smaller, after all crime wasn't stopping in Santa Barbara just because the Head Detective and the Head Psychic's daughter had gone missing. So Chief Vick was running between both places. Hopefully this ended soon.

But Shawn didn't see how. He took another sip of coffee and sighed. They kept finding campsites but hadn't had a glimpse of Lassie or Sydney. Drimmer and Cowley were no where to be found as well.

"We'll find them." Jules put her arm around him.

"I keep telling myself that."

She leaned in and gave him a kiss. "We'll find her."

"We'd better." He chugged the rest of the cup and tossed it in the trash. "She owes me a monopoly rematch."

Jules laughed as they left the mess tent and walked through the camp. It was quiet tonight; if everyone felt like Shawn did, he didn't blame them. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, shoot he'd be happy to have the hard ground tonight.

Shawn crawled under the sleeping bag and held Jules close and allowed sleep to overcome him.

A scream tore through the night and Shawn sat straight up. Next to him, Juliet sat up and he heard her gun click. Even Gus woke up, and his dad was already out of the tent.

"It's Sydney." He didn't know how he knew, but he knew it was her.

"How do you know?" Jules was throwing on a pair of jeans.

He did the same and heard Gus as well. "I know."

The scream rang out again and Shawn bolted from the tent, throwing on his shirt as he went. Around him, the camp was waking up fast. Shawn found his dad as another scream came and his dad handed him a GPS devise and a walkie talkie before he nodded.

He focused and ran towards the sound, hearing people behind him.

For several minutes, he ran through the woods, correcting his course if he needed to as a new scream sounded. He slowed down and as one sounded, he knew he was close.

"Sydney, Sydney, it's ok. It's just a dream." Shawn breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Lassie's voice.

"Lassie?"

"Spencer?" He heard a response.

"Where are you?" Shawn wished he'd remembered a flashlight.

"Over here." Shawn followed the sound of his voice and found Lassie sitting by the remains of a fire in a small clearing. Sydney's head was on his lap, her face full of fear. "I never thought I'd be glad to see you Spencer."

"Oh you know you missed me Lapalosa." Shawn sat down beside him as Sydney let out another scream. "Has she been doing this a lot?"

"She did it the first night."

Shawn pulled her close. "Syd, it's ok. It's going to be ok."

She stirred in his arms and Shawn felt just how hot she was. Footsteps sounded nearby and Shawn saw Gus and Jules catch up.

"Carlton!" Jules wrapped him in a hug and Shawn saw Carlton wince.

"You may want to get that checked out Lassie." Shawn held Sydney close as she settled down again. He pulled out his walkie talkie. "Pineapple to base camp."

"This is base camp, go ahead Pineapple." Buzz came over the intercom.

"Mr. Bean and mini me found, both in need of medical attention. Oh and Mr. Bean looks like he could use some coffee."

Laughter sounded from the walkie talkie. "Location Pineapple?"

Shawn handed the GPS device to Gus. "Device being turned on. Bringing them to base camp."

"Medical transport will be ready upon arrival. See you soon Pineapple."

"See you soon." Shawn put the walkie talkie in the bag that Sydney had been using for a pillow before handing it off to Gus. Making sure she was still wrapped in her blanket, Shawn picked up Sydney and headed in the direction of base camp. Time to get Sydney the help she needed.

Shawn hated hospitals; to be specific he hated hospital waiting rooms. His dad was pacing the room, Shawn wasn't sure if he'd sat down since they'd gotten there. Gus was out cold on one of the couches and Jules was talking to Chief Vick in the corner.

He took a sip of the pineapple smoothie in his hand and remembered why he loved the city and its 24 hour access to smoothies.

"How is she?" Lassie stood in the doorway of the waiting room wearing a hospital gown with a robe over it. Behind him, Marlowe was pushing an IV pole.

"No word yet." Shawn eased him into a seat. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I can rest fine here." He took a seat on the couch leaving room for Marlowe who could barely take her eyes off of him. Shawn smiled. She'd been so happy when they'd called to tell her the good news. "What's the latest from base camp?"

"The search is about to start up again. With you two safe, they can focus on finding them." Chief Vick turned to face the room. "I'll have to heard up there in a bit and check."

"Dad, sit down before you have a heart attack or something." Shawn had enough of his dad's pacing.

His dad sighed. "I'm fine. I'm going to get a paper and a cup of coffee. Call me if the doctor comes in."

"Will do." Shawn sighed as his dad left the room. "Chief?"

"Yes, Mr. Spencer."

"There's no way they could make it all the way back to Santa Barbara right? I mean we have a perimeter set up and everything."

"Are you getting a vision?"

"Not as much a vision as worried about Sydney. I don't know how much they know about her, and oh my gosh I'm turning into a worry wort just like my father."

The Chief settled back in her chair and smiled. "I wouldn't rule it as impossible, but it's highly unlikely."

Gus sat up looking dazed. "Any word yet?"

"Thanks for joining us buddy."

Gus glared at him. "You know I need my sleep Shawn."

"I would never forget that you need your beauty sleep." That earned him a laugh and the tension that had filled the room eased a little.

"There you are Detective." A nurse stood in the doorway, hands on her hips. "And I see you had help escaping."

Lassie looked sheepish. "I was just checking in."

"You're supposed to be resting." She glared at him.

"Yeah, Lassie you're supposed to be resting." Shawn couldn't help but say it.

"I can rest fine here." He didn't show any signs of moving.

She let out a sigh. "Don't let me catch you doing any work. I'll be back for you when the doctor is ready to see you."

She left and the group turned back to their conversation keeping things light. Eventually, his dad rejoined the group.

"What do you get an 18 year old girl for Christmas?" Shawn asked something that had been bugging him for the last few days.

Everyone in the room turned and stared at him. He held up his hands. "I'm being serious! With Jules, I can get her something sweet or romantic. If Syd was like six I could get her the newest Barbie or a teddy bear. But she's 18. What do they like?"

The question stumped everyone. Finally Jules looked over. "Spend a few days, get to know her. You'll figure out the perfect present."

"Don't kids drop hints?" Gus added.

"You've already given her the one thing she wanted." Lassie's response was quiet.

"What do you mean Lassie?"

"You."

Now he was confused. "What are you talking about?"

Lassie shifted positions. "Accepting her, being willing to get to know her. You've given her the one thing she's wanted."

Shawn sat back, surprised. "Really?"

"Really, she's a great kid Spencer. Don't screw this up." A rare smile came from Lassie.

"I'll do my best." Shawn smiled as he spotted a doctor in the doorway.

"Family of Sydney Collins?"

"I'm her father." Shawn stood up.

"Is everyone in here with you?"

"Yes."

The doctor came in and took a seat. "I'm Dr. Barton and I was the head physician in Sydney's surgery."

"Is she ok?" His dad asked.

Dr. Baron nodded. "She'll be fine. The infection was pretty serious. How long ago did this happen?"

"Four days ago."

"She's lucky you got her here when you did. We cleaned out the wound and had to go in and repair some damage done by the bullet."

"Damage?" Shawn leaned forward.

He nodded. "Your foot has dozens of bones in it. Some aren't much wider than a hair. It broke some of those and cracked the large one in the middle."

"How long is she going to be laid up?"

"She'll be here for a few days at least. We've got to get her fever down and make sure that the infection doesn't start back up again. From there, she'll need crutches for at least a month, maybe more depending on the rate of healing."

"How long until I can see her?" Shawn needed to see for himself that she was ok.

"She's in recovery but you can sit with her. The rest of you can see her in a couple hours when we get her set up in a room."

He stood up and motioned for Shawn to follow him. "Gus, stop by the Psych office, movies lots of them, oh and the monopoly board. And maybe my laptop?"

"On it."

"Jules?"

"Yeah Shawn?"

"Words can't express how much I'd like a change of clothes."

"I can do that." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss as Dr. Barton led him out of the room.

He followed him through several hallways until he came to a row off curtained off areas. He nodded to one and Shawn turned to see Sydney resting, her face a picture of calm.

Smiling and letting out a sigh of relief, he pulled up a chair and sat beside her. He saw her foot, wrapped up tight and raised. Her hand was sitting outside of the blanket and Shawn took it in his. "You know something kid? I have a confession to make. I don't know the first thing about being a dad. I guess you don't know a lot about having one. But we can learn right?"

He sat there for a while, just watching her sleep. How could he have not known? Sure they didn't speak, but he'd seen Becca several times between that night and graduation. But he had no idea.

But here she sat. And here he sat.

Time passed as finally she started to stir. After a minute she opened her eyes and Shawn watched her quickly take in her surroundings. Finally, her eyes rested on him and he saw the smile he'd been waiting days to see. "Hey."

"Hey, you know if you want to go hiking next time just sweet talk Jules into it."

"Right now, I don't see myself hiking again anytime soon." She looked around and eyed the glass of water that was sitting by the far side of her bed.

Shawn got up and grabbed it, handing it to Sydney. She smiled and took a long sip. "Oh that's better."

"Good Morning Miss Collins." Dr. Barton was standing in the opening to her "room". "Glad to see you up. I'm Dr. Barton"

"Nice to meet you sir. What's the verdict?"

"I bet. You're going to be stuck here for a few days."

She groaned. "Joy."

"It's better than the woods Syd." Shawn laughed.

"This is true."

Dr. Barton smiled. "We'll get you up to a room soon. You've got a waiting room full of people that are asking about you."

Sydney groaned. "I look like I spent the last few days sleeping on the ground."

"You look fine." Shawn rolled his eyes.

"We'll move her in the next few minutes." Dr. Barton left.

"By the way, we can." Shawn barely heard Sydney.

"We can what?"

"We can figure it out together." She smiled.


	11. La Casa De Henry

**Thanks so much for reading guys! Unless something changes there's just two more chapters in our tale. But don't be sad because there may be a sequel (spoiler!) Thanks for all the reviews and hope you enjoy! **

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"Guys, I'm fine!" Sydney pushed away from where Shawn, Gus, and his dad all crowded over her making sure she was comfortable on the couch.

"You just got out of the hospital." Shawn protested looking to his dad for backup.

"Come on Goose, you know you liked your space, even when you were sick." Shawn turned to see his mom standing in the doorway.

"Mom!" Shawn ran over. "When did you get here?"

"This afternoon, I wanted to get here a few days ago but I couldn't leave my conference. I went to the hospital and they said they had just discharged her."

"Yup, I got upgraded to La Casa de Henry." Sydney's comment made everyone laugh.

"When did I get upgraded to a Spanish resort?" Shawn saw his dad come in with a glass of juice. "Glad to see you made it ok, Maddie."

Shawn gave his mom a hug. "Mom, this is Sydney. Sydney, this is my mom."

He watched as his mom came and took a seat at the foot of the couch. "She has your eyes Goose."

"I've been getting that a lot." Sydney smiled.

A knock at the door caught Shawn's attention and he answered it. "Lassie! What are you doing here?"

Lassie walked into the living room. "Mrs. Spencer, I didn't realize you were back in town."

"I just got back Detective. How are you?"

"Doing better now, Spencer a word?" Lassie grabbed Shawn by the arm and pulled him into the kitchen. Gus had slipped in there and Shawn caught him mid fridge raid. Seeing Lassie, his eyes widened and he joined them.

"What's going on?"

"They think they found them."

"Them?" Gus' eyebrow rose.

Lassie nodded. "About ten miles from the cabin."

"Are you going now?"

"Yeah, the thing is… you see I was…"

"Lassie, are you asking me for help?" Shawn didn't fight the grin that was growing on his face. He turned to Gus. "Gus, I think he's asking for our help."

"Shawn."

"Well they did kidnap your daughter."

"You're driving?"

"Yup." Lassie came back into the living room. "Glad to see your feeling better Sydney." He sat on the back of the couch. Gus sat on one of the arms as his mom was mid- what had to be- embarrassing childhood story.

"Lassifrass and I have some business to wrap up."

"My turn for a word." Henry pulled Shawn back into the kitchen. "You're going after them aren't you?"

Shawn sighed. "I have to do this. Not only did they kidnap Sydney, Drimmer almost put Lassie behind bars, and Allison still give Jules nightmares."

Henry turned away and for a second Shawn braced himself for a lecture. He'd gotten used to not getting them. But he went to his desk drawer, took something out, and turned back to Shawn. "Take this and nail those bastards."

Shawn took the gun that his father held out. "Not sure how Lassie is going to feel about me having one of these."

"Lassiter will get over it." Henry went back into the living room.

Shawn hid the gun so that it was barely sticking out of his pants and joined the crowd. "Wait, so they were prospecting for oil?" Sydney was laughing and she wasn't the only one."

"Yeah, and I thought Dad was mad when he caught me. It was nothing compared to the wrath of Mom."

"I don't think I'd ever seen your mom that mad. Plus it took us all night to clean up that mess." Gus was laughing at the memory.

Lassie stood up. "We need to get going."

"Go get them guys." Sydney smiled from the couch.

"You rest up, we have a movie marathon to finish."

"Is that before or after I beat you yet again at monopoly."

Shawn laughed as he headed out the door behind Lassie. "Geeze already being sassed by the kid."

"Taste of your own medicine." Lassie got into the car and Shawn slid in behind Jules. Gus went around and sat on the other side.

"Jules! Joining us to take down the baddies and save Christmas?"

She laughed. "So we've saving Christmas?"

"Why else would we be going out there?"

"To put them back where they belong?" Lassie muttered.

"Added bonus." Shawn waved it off as Lassie pulled away from the curb.

Henry sat across the table from Maddie, glass in hand. "Hard to believe, isn't it."

"Rabbit sunbathing in the window, sick kid on the couch." She took of sip of tea and sighed. "It's like we've stepped back 18 years."

"She seems to handle being sick better than Shawn."

"Most people handle it better." She laughed. "There's so much there."

"So much where?"

"Her eyes. Pain, regret, grief, uncertainty. For such a young girl she's been through a lot."

"Please tell me you weren't doing a psych eval." Henry wouldn't be surprised if she had.

"Not really, it's in the way she acts, the way she looks at you guys, subtle things." She turned to where they could barely see Sydney's sleeping figure on the couch. "How could we have not known?"

"How could we have?" Henry didn't really have an answer. He'd been asking himself that same question for over a week now.

"When I heard, I… I was mad at myself for not knowing. I was so wrapped up in my career, and our divorce, and myself…"

"Don't beat yourself up, I was so mad at the kid, mad at you, mad at everything." Henry once again felt the regret of the years wasted because of that anger.

Movement in the living room got his attention and after a minute, they saw Sydney making her way on crutches into the half-bath by the kitchen. "I can handle this by myself."

Henry turned to Maddie and they both laughed. "Maybe she's more like Shawn than I thought."

He glanced at the closed door. "There's a lot of Shawn in her." Getting up, he went to the fridge. "Hungry kid?"

A flush sounded and she came out a minute later. "Actually, a little."

"Well I'm about to fix you the best steak you've ever eaten."

Sydney came to sit at the table, scooting a chair so she could prop her foot up. "Can't wait."

Henry grabbed the steaks out of the fridge. "You staying for dinner Maddie?"

"As opposed to missing out on your steaks?"

He laughed and headed outside to fire up the grill. "I'll take that as a yes."


	12. Gus Is A Table

**Thanks so much for the reviews guys! I can't wait to see how the sequel turns out either. But we still have this one to finish. :) **

* * *

The last time Shawn had felt this way, he had been going after the man who shot his father. He fingered the gun as the continued up the mountain. Inside their car the tension grew with each passing mile. The parade of flashing red and blue lights behind them didn't help either.

Pulling into a clearing, Shawn saw a cabin freakishly similar to the one from last week. Gus shifted next to him and Shawn knew he noticed it too.

"Guster, you go with Ohara and enter through the back. Spencer, you're with Lassiter." Chief Vick came over the wire in his ear.

Lassie parked the car. "On my signal."

"Wait, you still owe me from the bank robbery case."

"Is this the time for this Shawn?" Jules turned, trying to hide her desire to laugh from him. Didn't work. Usually didn't but for some reason she kept trying.

"How often do we get to do this?" Shawn grabbed the door handle.

"Fine." Lassie moved into a similar position.

"One."

"Two."

"Three." Shawn leapt out of the car and followed Lassie as he made a beeline for the front door. Jules gave him a quick nod as she disappeared around back.

Lassie stopped cold by the front door, pausing for a second. Shawn came and leaned his head against the door and couldn't hear anything. "I think we're clear."

Lassie nodded, counted to three on his fingers, and kicked the door open. They were met with an empty living room, fire burning in the fireplace. Lassie moved towards the far side of the room to check in the kitchen.

A newspaper sitting on the kitchen, actually several, caught Shawn's eye. He sat down on the couch and picked up the top line. The headline increased the bad feeling that had been growing in the pit of his stomach.

**SBPD Head Detective and Daughter of Local Psychic Kidnapped**

Two pictures appeared under the headline, the one from the photo booth and a generic one of Lassie they like to use. The one of Sydney was circled in red and crossed throw multiple times.

Lassie came back in the room and grabbed another paper. "Are they still using this pic?"

"It's not a good one of you is it?" Shawn laughed.

He got up and headed into the other room which turned out to be a kitchen. A phone sat on the counter and Shawn checked it for recent calls. One number was Allison's phone. The other, he didn't know. The calls to that one stopped over a week ago. Chances are, the phone belonged to Wignall or Jenkins.

"Lassie, I'm sensing that either Jenkins or Wignall had a phone."

"We found one on Wignall."

Shawn felt the pieces come together. Nothing like coming down to the wire. "And did he show signs of any injuries?"

While he waited for Lassie's answer he checked the phone, finding the piece of info he wanted. "Some bruises, and the prison said he was complaining of soreness the next day."

Shawn nodded, the pieces falling into place. "Those sneaky bastards. It's really an ingenious plan."

"Care to share with the class Spencer?"

Shawn walked back into the living room. "I could, but I'm sure our friend would like to come say hi."

Steps sounded on the stairs and Shawn turned to face them.

"So we meet again." Drimmer walked into the room, gun held high.

"Drop it." Lassie circled around so that he was on the far side of the room.

"I'd do as he says Drimmer, I'm sensing that this isn't ending well for you." Shawn pulled out his father's gun and pointed it right at Drimmer.

"Where'd you get a gun Spencer?"

"Dad." Shawn didn't look away from Drimmer as he answered Lassie's question. "What was your plan? Haunt us? Kidnap Us? Torture us? Or was the fact that you'd escaped at all enough. Figured we'd spend countless hours hunting you down."

"Shut up Shawn, you don't know anything." Drimmer swung his gun between the two of them. Shawn saw a slight hesitation as he swung it to the right.

"How's the shoulder?"

"None of your business."

Shawn needed to gain some ground, he wasn't going to play mind games with Drimmer all night. "Let me guess. You four were going to haunt us. Plant stuff in our homes, offices, wherever you could. Leave us notes, play the mother of all mind games with them."

"So why kidnap me?"

"Lucky coincidence." Shawn thought back to the research he'd done while Sydney was in the hospital. The more he looked at it the more it seemed like the two cases weren't related. It almost looked like they'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Wignall was driving the car, probably picking up supplies, leaving a note, something, when he saw your car. Not wanting to waste the chance and knowing that Drimmer and Allison were only a few blocks away, he ran into your car. Our little friend just was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Sydney? Oh by the way Shawn, I almost forgot to offer my congratulations. Off to a banner start I see, lost the kid within 24 hours."

Shawn tightened his grip on his gun and started to see red. "Oh, thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot to thank you for that."

"Spencer, don't do anything stupid."

"Yeah Spencer, don't do anything stupid." Drimmer mocked, gun pointed straight at him. Both guns clicked in unison.

"So where was I? Oh right, after my daughter kicked your sorry butt, you and Allison Cowley had to regroup. What were you going to do? We'd taken over your hideout and with it the plans you had. Luckily, Allison's uncle had this little cabin, seems like her family is into camping. Then you got word that Sydney was being released today so you made a trek into town."

"And didn't know you'd been spotted and someone followed you, leading us here." Lassie added.

"Way to join the break down Lassie!" Shawn nodded. "So all that's left is your favorite part."

Drimmer moved continued to rotate between pointing his gun at Shawn and at Lassie. Shawn sighed, why did they have to make this difficult. "You might as well give up now."

"We've got the place surrounded. This is the end of the line."

Drimmer eyed Lassie, who was separating him from the back room. Pointing his gun that way, Shawn knew he was about to shoot.

Two shots went off and Shawn saw a bullet go into the wall mere inches from Lassie's head. He also saw Drimmer hit the ground, doubled over holding his foot. Shawn walked up to him.

"That was for Sydney."

Lassiter came over and tossed the weapon to Shawn. "Chief, we've got Drimmer. He's going to need medical attention."

The front door slammed open as SWAT poured into the cabin, quickly surrounding Drimmer. Chief Vick followed close behind. "Nice work team."

A shot rang out and Shawn turned to the back of the cabin. "Jules!" He took off.

* * *

Juliet made her way to the back of the cabin and stopped cold. A basement door stood partially open. "Could be a trap."

"Or could be Allison." Gus came up behind him.

Jules slowly made her way down the stairs and into the basement. She was met with a pitch-dark room and reached for her flashlight when the lights flashed on revealing Allison Cowley.

"Detective Ohara! It's been awhile."

"Not long enough." She heard Gus mutter.

"Oh you brought Shawn's friend, and here I thought we were going to have a girl's night." She took a couple steps towards them. "After all, we have some unfinished business."

She pulled out a gun and Juliet was quick to do the same. "It's over Allison. We've got the building surrounded."

"It's not over til I say it's over."

Juliet eyed Gus who was inching his way behind Allison. What was he up to?

She returned her attention to the girl who had been the source of her nightmares for years. Why did she let her have that? "It's over, you'll go back to your cell, with its four padded walls, and I'll go back to…"

"Shawn, oh that's right. Did you two finally figure it out?"

Juliet readjusted her arm holding it steady. "It's none of your business."

Allison took a step forward, raised her gun straight and Jules and suddenly fell to the ground. Jules ducked as a shot rang out and broke a window a few feet from her.

Looking over, she saw Gus getting up and dusting off his hands.

"What was that?"

"Gus is a table."

"Jules!" She heard Shawn right before she heard feet pounding down the stairs. Sure enough, there he was and he ran to her. "I heard a shot."

"I'm fine thanks to Gus. He was a…" She turned to Gus. "What were you?"

"I was a table." He eyed Shawn.

"Gus is a table?" Shawn held out his fist and Gus returned the bump as SWAT filled the room. "That's how it's done Buddy!"

"What are you two talking about?"

"It's an old bit from middle school." Shawn smiled. "You're ok?"

"Fine." Jules watched as they picked up Allison and prepared to handcuff her. "Wait a second."

Jules walked over, pulling out her handcuffs. "You're under arrest, again." She slapped the cuffs on Allison before handing her off to one of the SWAT guys. "And stay there."

Feeling as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, Juliet came back over to Shawn. He took her in his arms. "Feel better?"

"Much." She kissed him and for a second the world faded away.

A throat clearing brought her back to the present. Standing in the doorway was Chief Vick. "Nice work today."

"Thanks Chief."

"Get some rest." She smiled before headed back outside.

Juliet turned to where SWAT was bagging Allison's gun, besides that there wasn't anything left here. "There's going to be a mound of paperwork for this."

"Do what I do, slip in Lassie's pile when he's not looking."

"You slip your paperwork into Lassie's pile?" She felt her jaw drop.

"No, I slip it in Gus'. I was trying to make the analogy work for you." He learned in for another kiss. "But for tonight what do you say we go check on Sydney and then maybe dinner and a movie?"

"What movie?"

"You'll want a chick flick." He took her hand and led her outside.

"And you'll want an action flick."

"We'll figure it out." His smile was contagious.

"We always do." Juliet answered, knowing the answer worked for more than what movie to watch.


	13. Merry Christmas

Christmas Day

"Merry Christmas Dad!" Shawn rushed into his Dad's living room, arms full of presents.

"Merry Christmas Shawn. Go ahead and sit those under the tree, dinner will be ready soon." His dad stuck his head out of the kitchen.

Shawn did as he said and then went into the kitchen. He noticed a lack of Sydney. "Where's Syd?"

"Upstairs, she seemed moody earlier so I suggested she go take a nap."

"Moody?"

"It's a hard day for her." His mom came down from the attic carrying a platter. As she handed it to his dad, Shawn couldn't help but smile. It had been awhile since he'd spent Christmas with his mom.

Shawn sighed. "True." He plopped the folder down on the table. "Woody finally got the results back."

His dad came and picked up the folder, opening it and scanning the contents. "You were right."

"I knew I was." Shawn sighed. "I'm going to go wake her up."

He took the stairs two at a time and stopped in the doorway of what had been the guest room, but was now Sydney's room. Already she'd managed to talk his dad into putting posters up and some stuff had come in from Washington.

But what made him smile was on the bed. Sydney laid sound asleep. Curled up in her arm was Chipper who looked up at him as he entered the room.

"Time to go in your cage." Shawn rubbed the rabbit's head before picking him up. He put them in the cage as he heard a commotion downstairs. Sounded like Gus had shown up.

He turned back to Sydney and noticed that she had cried herself to sleep. Looking down at the photos he found the cause. She had Christmas photos all over her bed. To be specific, photos with her mom at Christmas. He picked them up and sat them on her desk before sitting beside her.

"Hey Syd, it's almost time for dinner. Ready to rise and shine?"

She stirred but then settled again. "Five more minutes."

"Five more minutes and Gus will drink all the eggnog."

She laughed, turned, and then sat up. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas kid. You ok?"

"Yeah, just missing her." Sydney sat up, wincing a little. "This was her favorite day of the year, its hard knowing she's not here to enjoy it.

Shawn pulled her close, brushing the hair our of her face and back behind her ear. "What was her favorite thing about it?"

Sydney laughed. "I always loved a good mystery, but always seemed to crack them too quick."

"I know the feeling."

"Ever since I was little, she'd hide my presents somewhere and leave me clues to find them. Thing was, I usually knew before I got the first clue. She left too many tells. But I would play along and we'd have a blast."

"And she never knew?"

"Never had the heart to tell her. It made her happy to think she'd stumped me." A tear fell down Sydney's cheek and she brushed it away.

"Foot feeling better?" Shawn felt like it might be a good idea to change the subject.

She nodded. "Yeah, a couple of weeks and I'll be up and going again."

"Glad to hear it, I'm waiting to see which shade of red Lassie's face will turn when there's two psychics running around his crime scene."

"I'd say between cherry and fire engine."

Both laughed for a minute before the sound of someone else arriving made both of them turn to the door. Shawn got up. "See you downstairs."

"See you."

"And Syd?"

"Yeah?"

"It's ok to miss her." Shawn walked out and headed downstairs and found Gus talking to Jules as Lassie and Marlowe sat something under the tree.

"Where's Sydney?"

"Upstairs, she'll be here soon." Shawn took a seat between Gus and Jules.

Dinner passed quickly in a rush of fun. For years, Shawn hadn't had big Christmases. The idea to try it this year had felt weird, but now he couldn't imagine it any other way.

Afterwards, everyone crowded around the tree and gifts were passed around. And by passed around, that meant most ended up by Sydney. She seemed surprised to see her pile of gifts grow. "Guys, you shouldn't have!"

"Oh hush and open them." Lassie called out.

Sydney made a face at him and tore into the pile. Wrapped presents gave way to CD, movies, a guide to Santa Barbara, books, a Psych phone cover, and various other things. With each present, her smile grew and grew.

"Ok, my turn." Sydney went and grabbed a folder off of the mantel. Shawn looked to his Dad who shrugged. "This is for everyone."

She handed the folder to Shawn. "Will you do the honors?"

He opened it and felt his jaw drop as he saw the contents. "Hope your passports are up to date."

"Why?" Gus leaned over. "Oh my gosh…"

Shawn held up the folder. "We're going to Sydney."

"What?" The entire room came over to look at the folder. There were flights from LAX and hotel and everything for March.

"Sydney, you shouldn't have!"

"I've always dreamed of going somewhere like that with my dad."

Shawn looked up at Sydney. That was the first time she had referred to him as her dad. "Can't wait kid."

"Merry Christmas Dad."

"Merry Christmas Syd." Shawn pulled her into a hug as the room erupted into excited talk about their upcoming trip.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading guys! I've appreciated reading your reviews. Keep an eye out for the sequel, Sydney's Secret. Oh and I might post a bonus feature so keep an eye out for that. **


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